Phi Do Email & Phone Number

Alachua, Fl, Us

Alachua, Florida, United States

• Fermentation and process development team leader. -In charge of the optimization of all research grade vaccine production at all scale -Downstream process development, e.g., centrifugation/ filtration concentration, product formulation with focus in cryopreservation and lyophilization -Scale-up optimization and tech transfer to manufacturing partner for the completed commercialization of the vaccine product• Development of novel vaccine candidates -Genetically engineer vaccine strain’s chromosome for attenuation as well as for the regulated expression of select antigens -Over-expression and purification of extracellular vesicles for the packaging and delivery select antigens

Alachua, Fl

• Collaborated with all branches of Syngenta from R&D to Production: from working with small scale benchtop fermentation (0.5L to 20L) to assisting in optimizing industrial scale fermentation (50,000L)• Served as a bridging point to bring together different discipline of R&D such as molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, and microbiology • Maintaining and culturing various fastidious organisms• Optimized growth in various gas mixtures (aerobic, anaerobic, microaerobic, and hypoxic conditions)• Using statistical experimental design for media optimization• Freezer stock vial creation and maintenance for production• Writing SOPs for technology transfer for scale-up PD and manufacturing• Batch record monitoring and identifying process drifts• Analytical assay development to quantify product• Microbial de-novo genome sequence assembly (next-gen sequencing) and annotation• Biochemical pathway mapping to identify auxotrophic supplements required to increase production yields• Co-culturing of symbiants and identifying key signal growth factors• Microscopy expert: ordered, maintained, and repaired all microscopes on site as well use different methods such as brightfield, phase contrast, differential interference contrast (DIC), plasDIC, stereo, and fluorescence.• Used flow cytometry to separate and quantitate various cells and understand culture population dynamics• Supervised and mentored research associates• Managing a site closure: proper disposal of all chemical and biological wastes, shipment of biological specimens to new site, sterilizing and shutting down facilities used for growing quarantined organisms, decommissioning of capitol analytical equipment for transportation, coordinating everything that is needed to relocate a site to a new facility

Alachua, Fl

• Optimizing growth of fastidious obligate parasite, Pasteuria nishizawae, of plant parasitic soybean cyst nematodes for use as a biological pesticide• Oversee toll manufacturers for mass fermentation production of Pasteuria• Transition from small start-up company to large multi-national corporation when Pasteuria Bioscience was acquired by Syngenta

Jackson, Mississippi Area

Mutant p53 (mtp53) is one of the most commonly mutated gene in cancer occuring in over 50% of all human cancers. mtp53 promotes chemotherapy resistance through multiple mechanisms, including disabling proapoptotic proteins and regulating gene expression. Comparison of genome wide analysis of mtp53 binding revealed that the ETS-binding site motif (EBS) is prevalent within predicted mtp53-binding sites. We demonstrate that mtp53 regulates gene expression through EBS in promoters and that ETS2 mediates the interaction with this motif. Importantly, we identified TDP2, a 5'-tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase involved in the repair of DNA damage caused by etoposide, as a transcriptional target of mtp53. We demonstrate that suppression of TDP2 sensitizes mtp53-expressing cells to etoposide and that mtp53 and TDP2 are frequently overexpressed in human lung cancer; thus, our analysis identifies a potentially "druggable" component of mtp53's gain-of-function activity.Do, PM, et al. Genes Dev. 2012 Apr 15;26(8):830-45.

Gainesville, Florida Area

PI: Dr Lonnie Ingram. Under Dr Ingram's guidance, my project was to take an E. coli strain evolved to be resistant to fermentative inhibitor furfural and perform microarray analysis to systematically identify the pathways responsible for this increased furfural resistance. The goal was to identify the gene(s) responsible the furfural resistance and genetically modify fermentative strains to be resistant to furfural without directed evolution.

Gainesville, Florida Area

My studies at the University of Florida under the guidance of Dr. Shanmugam dealt with the metabolic engineering of E. coli for the production of biofuels and bulk chemicals. More specifically, I attempted to metabolically engineer E. coli for the production of butanol or hydrogen. These involved cloning and expressing different gene(s) from various microorganisms and optimally express them to produce these compounds. I have experiences with the isolation of microorganism and directed evolution selecting for a specific phenotype such as increase fermentation productivity. I am great at systematically optimizing processes for optimal efficiency. I also excel in molecular biology and can easily clone and express genes from different organisms. I also have experiences with culturing different microorganisms including fastidious anaerobic bacteria such as clostridia. I have used fermentors of different sizes ranging from small scale 500 ml fleaker fermentors to large 60 L bioreactors.

Ph.D., Microbiology And Cell Science

Activities and Societies: President of Microbiology Society for Graduate Student, Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Jan. 2007 –.

B.S., Microbiology And Cell Science