Shannon Mackey Email and Phone Number

Collaborative management of day-to-day operations for a five-year funded grant by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute designed to increase sense of belonging and inclusivity for all students in STEM majors. Effectively administer program budget, coordinate activities, and manage short-term logistics to align with long-term projects. Prepare year-end expense reports for grant sponsor and align expenses with proposed budget to justify spending by HHMI-assigned categories. Work closely with the Program Director to plan and execute grant-related meetings, conferences, and events for faculty, staff, and students. Develop and maintain newsletters and websites for UVA-HHMI projects, initiatives, and announcements.

Perform thoughtful and thorough evaluation of PSAT and SAT test forms for clarity, soundness, and relevance to instruction. Apply scientific expertise, experience, and knowledge to review passages, graphical representations, and test items for accuracy. Actively participate in virtual and in-person panels of content reviewers to discuss in great detail the merits of each test form, passage, and item.

Developed real-world scenarios and accompanying item clusters for end-of-course assessment in the biomedical sciences.

Developed biology assessment items that align with specific student learning expectations, curriculum standards, depth of knowledge, and item type.

Designed and delivered high-quality educational experiences to undergraduate students enrolled in introductory microbiology and upper-level writing-intensive biological literature courses. Developed step-by-step laboratory protocols for undergraduates to perform molecular biology and microbiology techniques. Established strong cross-functional communication with various support teams on campus to assist in the professional development of undergraduate students preparing for careers in healthcare. Recruited prospective students, designed marketing and advising materials, and aligned undergraduate curriculum plans with accredited graduate program requirements. Served as academic advisor for biology majors, assisting with class schedules, internship/job shadowing, graduate school applications and interview preparation, and career selection based on individual skills and attributes. Spearheaded the development of a Bachelor of Arts in Biology degree in collaboration with Directors and Chairs of healthcare-related programs within and out of the SAU system.

Summers 2010 & 2011: mentored SAU undergraduate students in Dr. Wallrath's lab as a continuation of the project initiated in the FUTURE in Biomedicine programPublication: M W Vitalini, G Dialynas, L L Wallrath, and S R Mackey. (2013) Nuclear organization, chromatin structure, and gene silencing IN Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry. Academic Press, volume 3, pp. 314-317.

Selected to participate in three-month collaborative research experience in the lab of Dr. Lori Wallrath to mentor an SAU undergraduate researcher in biomedical research using fruit flies as a model system to study epigenetic gene silencing mechanisms.

A continuation of my PhD research that culminated in a collaborative presentation and publication at the 2007 Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology: Biological Rhythms Workshop.