I am CEO and Co-Founder of PhylloTech, Inc.. My activities leading the small company throughout its early commercialization stage include business development, scientific R&D, fundraising, technology licensing, intellectual property, global collaborations, and management of both scientific and business personnel. I hold a B.A. in Organismal Biology from Beloit College (Beloit, WI) and a Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY). I was also a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California-Berkeley.PhylloTech is an agricultural biotechnology company located in Middleton, WI. We are developing new techniques for the sustainable bioproduction of antibodies and other proteins in plants by utilizing specialized leaf surface structures called trichomes. Our trichome bioproduction system avoids the high costs of protein purification associated with competing systems by utilizing a natural method of purification from underlying plant tissues. We are also pioneering the environmentally-friendly management of plant pathogens using protein-based antimicrobials, including novel biofungicides termed phylloplanins and enzymes that inhibit bacterial quorum-sensing.

My adjunct appointment in the Department of Plant Pathology allowed me to have diverse collaborations with faculty and to investigate the commercialization potential of early technologies. It also gave me the ability to provide valuable research experiences to graduate and undergraduate students through internships at PhylloTech, LLC, where we have hosted twelve interns since 2011.

I was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Lindow in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. We studied the enzymatic degradation of intercellular signaling molecules called acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) by AHL acylases produced by the gram-negative plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae.

I worked in the laboratory of Dr. George Wagner in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. We identified and characterized novel antimicrobial proteins of leaf surfaces called phylloplanins, and this work formed the foundation of PhylloTech, LLC.