A member of the microbial development team: Contributing to the production of novel and valuable enzymes for honey and other industries.• Influence decision making using both scientific and technical expertise to execute research aims. Coordinate and draft project plans to generate strains capable of producing target enzymes. Exercise initiative and resourcefulness to leverage constrained resources to meet ambitious project goals and timelines. Contribute to FDA GRAS dossier prep, technoeconomic analysis, grant writing, and IP strategy. Founding member of MeliBio’s EH&S team developing best practices to ensure a strong culture of safety and compliance. • Execute original ideas to strain editing strategies leading to an 8x increase in secreted recombinant protein titer/productivity in 3 months. Build genetic toolkits, generate and maintain cell banks, and analyze protein expression, enzymatic data and NGS data to deliver results that drive progress toward project goals. Build a robust electronic lab notebook (ELN) infrastructure in Benchling adopted across the organization.• Develop and validate bench scale (shake flask and multiwell) fermentation processes that correlate with bioreactor processes. Author detailed clear SOPs to ensure operational consistency, efficiency and quality control.

A member of the metagenomics and drug discovery teams: Contributed to the development and advancement of a scalable natural product discovery pipeline enabled through expression of biosynthetic gene clusters encoded within sequenced metagenomic libraries.• Led 5-7 person cross-department teams for internal and client facing projects influencing technical decision making to ensure on-time delivery of high value natural products for pharmaceutical or agricultural applications. Presented progress updates to internal and external stakeholders. Coordinated activities and resourcing across multiple departments.• Collaboratively ideated, independently designed and executed strain engineering and fermentation strategies for increased titers of heterologously expressed molecules. Leveraged automated liquid handling systems to drive throughput. Explored cell-based high-throughput assays for detection of small molecules with specific MOAs. Document data in electronic lab notebooks and Laboratory Information Management Systems.• Matrix style management of four direct reports focusing on career and technical development. Trained team members on experimental protocols and proper equipment use.

• Designed and executed experiments for heterologous expression of small molecule natural products in Gram-positive (e.g., Streptomyces) and Gram-negative (e.g., Pseudomonas) bacterial hosts. Performed in-depth NGS data analysis of cloned constructs.• Performed HPLC and LC-MS method development, data collection and analysis to confirm heterologous expression of desired small molecules.

Laboratory of Dr. Sarah O’Connor, Department of Biological ChemistryEngineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Overproduce Alkaloid Derived Designer Natural Products• Established LC-MS and GC-MS methods for the identification and quantification of targeted molecules.• Led the ideation and creation of an S. cerevisiae strain capable of producing plant natural products through multiple genetic edits and investigations into pathway bottlenecks.

Laboratory of Dr. Suzanne Walker, Harvard Medical SchoolGenetic and biochemical studies to elucidate wall teichoic acid biosynthesis and function• Characterized enzyme activity by developing in vitro enzymatic assays using a range of analytical techniques (e.g., radiometric, chromatographic, HPLC, and LC-MS). Performed microbial cell based assays (e.g., MIC and biofilm analysis) to investigate cell wall polymer function.• Optimized E. coli heterologous protein expression and purification of multiple membrane associated proteins.• Conducted genetic studies in Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus to confirm in vitro results translate to in vivo biology and to further elucidate biological function.