Sean Mcmaster Email & Phone Number

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

Specific case experiences include:-Over 5 months, supported design and operationalization of a new public health antiviral program to strengthen antiviral R&D pipeline resiliency to viruses of pandemic potential

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

Specific case experiences include:-For 13 months, supported COVID-19 response for a public sector health agency; key priorities included acceleration of patient access & "live" portfolio impact assessment of COVID-19 variants-Supported a 4 month integration adaptation of a global Biopharma's R&D and Commercialization governance process, including stage gate and project team configuration

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

Specific case experiences include:-Supported a 14 month Biopharma R&D operating model transformation, including diagnostic, high level solution definition & detailed intervention design to support collaboration within & between asset teams-Teamed with a mid-sized Biopharma R&D org to investigate the drivers of Phase 3 clinical trial outcomes of two oncology drugs-Supported Medical/Clinical Affairs (MA) functional transformation & integration for a large medical device company; focused on best practice identification and adoption to support the MA annual strategic review-Comprehensively profiled & facilitated creation of a standard process to prioritize, generate and disseminate clinical evidence at a large medical device company-Evaluated & prioritized multi-billion dollar growth investment options for a large medical service provider-Developed 5-year portfolio level growth strategy for medical device company

Madison, Wi, Us

Mentor: Assistant Professor Douglas Weibel; Department of Biochemistry-Two independent research projects:1. Determination of minimal nutrients for bacterial swarming motility, 9/07-6/10E. coli swarming is a surface motility characterized by differentiated cells that are elongated, hyper-flagellated and multinucleated. I identified a media source to capitulate E. coli swarming with a highly quantified broth through permuted inclusions of MOPS media, vitamins, amino acids and glucose. Use of this is aiding in the characterization of critical parameters that allow E. coli to swarm.2. Meta-analysis of bacterial cell shape, 9/06-11/07I worked to identify correlations in genetic ancestry via bacteria shape. This aided in identifying correlations among species to establish a preliminary pattern of ancestral phenotypic branching.

Mentors: Associate Professor Aseem Ansari; Professor Franco Cerrina; Assistant Professor Douglas Weibel; Assistant Professor Brian Pfleger; Assistant Professor Jennifer Reed; Departments of Biochemistry, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Chemical & Biological Engineering-iGEM 2009, 2/09-11/2/09 [http://2009.igem.org/Team:Wisconsin-Madison/Team]Our team of nine worked to engineer salt tolerance in bacteria to allow for eventual microbial biofuel synthesis in salt water. As a mentor and advisor, I aided in project development and troubleshooting.-iGEM 2008, 2/08-11/9/08 [http://2008.igem.org/Team:Wisconsin]Our team of 11 experimented with lignin breakdown via cloned fungal lignin peroxidase genes in E. coli. Sorbitol synthesis in vivo was also optimized as a novel means to create a cheap biofuel precursor. As an adviser over the summer, I aided in experimental planning and design of the lignin peroxidase assay.-iGEM 2007, 3/07-11/4/07 [http://2007.igem.org/Wisconsin]Our team of three engineered a zinc finger (Zif) artificial transcription factor to bind the murine Bcl2 gene promoter, thereby helping to prevent cell death by apoptosis. We characterized the nucleotide binding sequence of our Zif using Cognate Site Identifier arrays, a method not previously described. I focused on cloning and mutagenesis of the Zif in addition to performing transfection experiments in mouse fibroblasts.

Houston, Texas, Us

Mentors: Professor William Shearer and Assistant Professor Christina Nance; Department of Allergy & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s HospitalWe are studying the effects of the green tea catechin, Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), on dendritic cell function, specifically, CD34-derived Langerhans Cells (LCs) and Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells (MDDCs) in the development of EGCG as a microbicide against HIV infection. I led research on three different projects. I aided in examining the ability of gp120 to bind lectin receptors, primarily langerin and DC-SIGN on LCs and MDDCs, respectively. Moreover, I tested the efficacy of culturing techniques to promote the maturation of LCs from hematopoietic stem cells. Lastly, I assessed EGCG’s impact on Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) density on and the innate immune response signaling in LC and MDDC populations. I discovered that EGCG positively promotes increased TLR density in dendritic cells, promoting increased capacity for an innate immune response.

Mentor: Associate Professor Martha Bulyk; Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical SchoolI used bioinformatic analysis with Protein Binding Microarrays to develop a protocol and identify binding affinities of all yeast (S. cerevisiae) transcription factors (TFs) and DNA-binding proteins using in vitro processes. I demonstrated technique efficacy using six TFs, whose DNA-binding specificities were quantified with high statistical confidence. This demonstrated that S. cerevisiae can be studied at a systems level, suggesting that the developed protocol can be generalized to study TF DNA-binding motifs of other model organisms.

Doctor Of Medicine (M.D.), Medical Scientist Training Program

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Immunology & Molecular Pathogenesis

B.S. Natural Sciences, Biochemistry & Mathematics