-Develop genetic tools/strategies to metabolically engineer non-model organisms.- Developed a platform to successfully engineer a primary human skin isolate (Staphylococcus epidermidis) to produce mosquito-repellent natural products. Previous efforts to engineer primary skin bacteria prior to our work were limited and/or unsuccessful. - Successfully designed a strain of S. epidermidis that produces mosquito repellents (milligram per liter scale). This metabolically engineered strain was shown to repel mosquitoes in in vitro assays & when applied to mice (in vivo)- Heterologous expression & identification of natural products in non-model gram positive bacteria.. Extensive experience in assembling large, multi-part DNA constructs to produce pathways of interest. - Proficient in strain engineering of yeast (Sacchromyces cerevisae), gram positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Corynebacterium accolens) and gram negative (Acinetobacter baylyi, Escherichia coli) bacteria.Advisor: Prof. Christopher Voigt, Department of Biological Engineering

Thesis Title: Harnessing microbial biosynthetic pathways for the production of complex molecules.- Developed strategies for the heterologous expression of microbial biosynthetic pathways for the production of complex molecules in yeast and genetically engineered Escherichia coli strains.-Experienced in developing microbial fermentation strategies to transition from shake flask to bioreactor production of complex molecules.- Routinely cloned multi-gene biosynthetic pathways into a single vector, expressed vectors in a variety of microbial producers and successfully isolated natural products of interest. Identified (and tested) genes from various metabolic pathways via bioinformatic analysis.- Worked in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada and Sussex Research Laboratories to produce legionaminic acid, a complex carbohydrate that works against multidrug-resistant strains of Neisseria gonorrhea. Large scale bioreactor work successfully implemented to produce this carbohydrate at gram scale. - Highly experienced in molecular biology techniques including but not limited to cloning via Gibson assembly, Golden Gate assembly and other recombinant techniques, protein expression and purification, enzyme kinetics, RNA extraction and RT-PCR.- Proficient in analytical instruments including HPLC, LCMS, NMR and MALDI-TOF.- Trained and supervised a number of undergraduate students in molecular biology researchAdvisor: Prof. Christopher N. Boddy, Department of Chemistry

- Responsible for teaching 3rd year undergraduate students the basics of molecular biology, from cloning of DNA to expression of proteins. - Created lesson plans and original examples to expand on lecture material, answered all questions pertaining to the course; evaluated students on their hands-on skills, technical ability and oral presentation skills.- Marked and proctored examinations; input grades to online course resources.- CHM1321 (Organic Chemistry I)- CHM2123 (Organic Chemistry II)- BCH2333 (Biochemistry II)-BCH 3356 (Molecular Biology Lab)

- Cultivated E. coli strains for the fermentation production pseudaminic acid, a complex nine-carbon prokaryotic carbohydrate. - Tested titer levels in E. coli and optimized the pseudaminic acid pathway to improve production- Constructed and tested several vectors possessing biosynthetic pathways of pseudaminic acid

Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Makrigiannis - Evaluated the contribution of non-MHC receptors in natural killer (NK) cell development, function and immunity to cancer and viral infections.- Gained experience in working with animal models, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and antibody generation