ALSTEM Inc is a leading biotech company specializing in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) biology, gene/genome editing, gene delivery, and stem cell therapy and has served major biotech/pharmaceutical firms, universities, and research institutions across the world in iPSC generation and differentiation, viral packaging, gene editing, and stable cell line production. ALSTEM continues developing genetically engineered iPSCs and isogenic cell lines that allow for disease modeling, drug screening, and stem cell therapy.

Designed business strategies and recruited potential investors to secure funding for clients,Developed marketing strategies to boost sales; designed scientific study to determine product effectiveness for start-up and early stage firms of life sciences/biotech.

Director of Corneal Dystrophy Genetics and Zebrafish Genetics Laboratory Strategic and tactical authority over corneal dystrophy genetics and zebrafish genetics projects  Created the world’s first CLIA-certified corneal dystrophy lab, providing gene test to 200+ patients  Created 10+ zebrafish gene mutants using the gene editing technologies (ZFNs, TALENs, CRISPR) Developed a sensitive and widely used system to visualize zebrafish Cre for genome study Built int’l team to study the correlation between human and zebrafish corneal gene mutations  Won research award from International Cornea Society on the creative work in the zebrafish cornea, Secured $3M+ in grants from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Reviewed 50+ grants and papers for NIH study sections, global study panels and scientific journals

 Executed development and launch of business plan in alignment with financial, strategic and operational goals Sourced, secured and grew critical partnerships with marketing and manufacturing firms Directed all phases of R&D and product development life cycles Won an NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase I grant

Clavis provided business consulting services to early stage biotechnology companies and helped clients secure funding and implement business strategies which have sustained long-term growth.

Project Director and Research Investigator 1997 – 2002  Planned, directed and evaluated neurodegenerative disease research projects, including spearheading large-scale DNA sequencing project for gene discovery. Discovered and patented ATL1, a gene that causes hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and was licensed for commercial gene mutation screening Created neurological disease animal model and patented mouse-model of HSP (spastin gene knock-out mice) Wrote research grants; awarded $1.5M+ from NIH and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mentored and led 10 research fellows, research associates, research assistant and students

Project Leader, Sen. Fellow and Research Investigator 1994 – 1997  Directed positional cloning projects, research program activities and team of multidisciplinary staff Discovered 10 novel human skin-specific genes that are essential for normal skin differentiation Won Dermik Laboratories Research Grant from the Dermatology Foundation Published 7 scientific papers in Genomics and Journal of Investigative Dermatology., the official journal of The Society for Investigative Dermatology and The European Society for Dermatological Research

 Pioneer to systematically identify all repetitive DNA elements in a plant genome  Discovered and characterized 100+ major repetitive DNA elements from the cotton genome  Managed scientific experiments, research assistants and students One of the first in the development of microsatellites for genome study and genetic mappinng in plant sciences Expert in repetitive DNA study and plant genomics research Developed novel methods for high molecular weight DNA isolation and improve BAC/YAC cloning methodologies Published 7 peer-reviewed papers in the leading journals such as Genome Research and 2 book chapters