Scott Downing Email & Phone Number

Lexington, MA, US

Boston University School Of Medicine

• Research focused on studying potential therapeutics for cognitive and memory enhancement.
• Developed techniques and code (MATLAB) to analyze in-vivo, electrophysiology recordings of hippocampal place cell activity; evaluated potential therapeutics for cognitive and memory enhancement.
• Implemented unsupervised learning techniques (kmeans and E-M algorithm) to sort the large number of waveforms recorded at each electrode to individual neurons. Developed methods to remove… Show more
• Implemented unsupervised learning techniques (kmeans and E-M algorithm) to sort the large number of waveforms recorded at each electrode to individual neurons. Developed methods to remove hardware-based filtering.
• Designed and implemented a multiuser database (SQLite3) platform and web browser interface (PHP) to collect, aggregate and distribute results from various experimental platforms. Features included user authentication.
• Led the data analysis effort and mentored several graduate students.

Boston

• Investigated novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of anxiety and cognitive deficits by screening for and characterizing potential drugs at application-specific GABAA receptor subtypes.
• Co-led a high-throughput screening center conducting ion channel screening projects for three pharmaceutical companies.
• Redesigned a high-throughput, drug screening system to automate data analysis and reduce operational complexity, increasing the screening efficiency for ion channel… Show more
• Redesigned a high-throughput, drug screening system to automate data analysis and reduce operational complexity, increasing the screening efficiency for ion channel modulators by 500%.
• Coded digital signal processing and statistical analysis (digital filtering, nonlinear, least squares curve fitting and t tests) with LabVIEW and MATLAB. Constructed a client/server network with Microsoft Windows 2000.
• Mentored technicians, five graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow in electrophysiology techniques and analysis. Show less

Boston, MA

• Research focused on creating a mechanistic model for GABAA receptor modulation.
• Developed the theoretical framework to adapt the Monod, Wyman, Changeux enzyme regulation model to describe GABAA receptor modulation by molecules binding to allosteric sites on the receptor.
• Designed and built a piezoelectric-based, sub-millisecond, perfusion system for whole-cell electrophysiology of transiently transfected HEK-293 cells.
• Developed LabVIEW virtual instruments for real-time… Show more
• Developed LabVIEW virtual instruments for real-time control of the perfusion, micromanipulator and data acquisition systems. Developed MATLAB code for electrophysiological data analysis, derivation of the model free.
• Constructed and expressed a constitutively active GABAA receptor that was directly activated by low-efficacy benzodiazepine modulators in the absence of agonist, unlike the native GABAA receptor.

• Company founded out of David H. Farb, Ph.D lab research. First employee hired by the company. Presented technical aspects of the system to VCs resulting in $8M initial funding.
• Designed and constructed the novel prototype and first generation high-throughput electrophysiology (HTEP) workstations to automate the screening of ion channel modulators at receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes..
• Designed and constructed the novel prototype and first generation high-throughput electrophysiology (HTEP) workstations to automate the screening of ion channel modulators at receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes..
• Designed and machined custom parts for the fluidics system from plastic and aluminum.
• Developed system verification tests, and protocols for screening, testing and diagnostics.
• Managed several scientists and technicians, and an initial hardware budget. Show less

Pittsfield, MA

• Led a team of 9 electrical, mechanical and software engineers and technicians through the development of a complex electrical subsystem, from proposal through the design, test and final deployment.
• Managed a $290,000 labor and $315,000 materials budget during the 18-month development effort, completing the project on time and under budget.
• Coordinated the electrical communications and user interfaces with interacting subsystems. Developed extensive test and debugging procedures… Show more
• Coordinated the electrical communications and user interfaces with interacting subsystems. Developed extensive test and debugging procedures for this subsystem of five VME boards, power supply and more than 20,000.
• Analyzed and reconfigured the entire system level design to reallocate stringent performance requirements among subsystems, resulting in a more robust design at lower cost.
• Conducted employee annual performance and salary reviews. Show less

Pittsfield, MA

• Designed more than twenty electrical circuits for communications, signal conditioning and measurement, and power conversion applications to meet demanding commercial and military specifications.
• Conducted formal design reviews and training seminars for customers.
• Circuit prototypes and first generation printed circuit boards were evaluated with laboratory test equipment. Circuits were designed by-hand and with MATLAB; circuit analysis and simulations were performed with.
• Circuit prototypes and first generation printed circuit boards were evaluated with laboratory test equipment. Circuits were designed by-hand and with MATLAB; circuit analysis and simulations were performed with.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Pharmacology

• Thesis: AN ALLOSTERIC GATING MODEL FOR THE BENZODIAZEPINE MODULATION OF THE GABAA RECEPTOR.

Msee, Engineering

Bsee, Electrical Engineering