Experience

Exai Bio
• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 1 - 100 Employee
• Staff Automation Engineer

  • Jun 2022 - Present


Phylagen

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Process Automation Engineer

  • Sep 2019 - Jun 2022

  San Francisco Bay Area Developed, tested, optimized, and implemented all Hamilton protocols for all product pipelines Scaled lab automation from one Hamilton STARlet to 5 Hamilton STARs in two separate lab locations, increasing throughput from 400 samples per day to 4,600 samples per day Authored SOPs and training manuals for laboratory team to operate Hamilton STARs Provided troubleshooting support on Hamilton STARs for both NYC and SF laboratories Designed new lab consumable with outside engineer and… Show more Developed, tested, optimized, and implemented all Hamilton protocols for all product pipelines Scaled lab automation from one Hamilton STARlet to 5 Hamilton STARs in two separate lab locations, increasing throughput from 400 samples per day to 4,600 samples per day Authored SOPs and training manuals for laboratory team to operate Hamilton STARs Provided troubleshooting support on Hamilton STARs for both NYC and SF laboratories Designed new lab consumable with outside engineer and molder to reduce sample cost by 15% Show less



uBiome

• Wellness and Fitness Services

• Automation Operations Group Lead

  • Oct 2017 - Jul 2019

  San Francisco Bay Area Lead a cross functional team to develop a customized in-house liquid handling system tailored to the specific needs of the lab Oversaw operational optimization project to decrease inefficiencies in the primary lab pipeline with the goal of reducing TAT and COGS Managed ticketing system resulting in a 70% decrease in equipment downtime and a reduction in MTTR from 4 weeks to 1 week Hired phenomenal talent, doubling the size of team to meet expanding laboratory demands

• Lab Automation Engineer

  • Aug 2016 - Oct 2017

  San Francisco Bay Area Designed and created stacking case system to house in house automation system Implemented and maintained “new” technology into laboratory space that saved 3.5 hours on a 7 hour process Created documentation for IQ/OQ/PQ process for automation equipment Calibrated and maintained automation equipment Increased lab capacity from 4 robots to 20 robots

• Research Associate

  • Oct 2014 - Aug 2016

  San Francisco Bay Area Managed daily operations of the production lab as well as other lab associates, responsible for training of new laboratory associates. Manages inventory and ordering of laboratory supplies. Created and documented new protocols added to production lab. Maintains and troubleshoots liquid handling robots to allow for processing of 2000 samples per week. Reduced turn-around time of samples from 1-2 months to 2 weeks, reduced backlog of re-sequenced samples from 3,000 to 17.



Genentech

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Associate in Clinical Assays and Technologies Group

  • Jan 2013 - Jun 2014

  South San Francisco, California Analyzed the effect of biomarker-targeted chemotherapies through assays of fresh blood samples containing circulating tumor cells in phase 3 clinical trial involved breast, prostate, colon, NSCLC, bladder, endometrial and renal cancer patients. Evaluated and developed novel circulating tumor cell assays which enables better capture, higher visibility, and additional downstream analysis of circulating tumor cell characteristics, i.e. genetic, protein, or cell surface marker expression.

• Intern in the Oncology Biomarker Development Group

  • Oct 2012 - Jan 2013

  South San Francisco, CA Evaluation and creation of novel methodologies to enable the detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs)



Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• MS Biology

  • Aug 2010 - May 2012

  Troy, New York Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Genetic Engineering, Proteomics, and Drug Discovery Independent Research focus: Cutaneous Wound Healing and Possible Methods of Enhancement.

• BS Biology

  • Aug 2007 - May 2012

  Focus on microbiology and biomedical engineering

• Student Researcher

  • Aug 2011 - Dec 2011

  I performed numerous experiments culminating in a final project where I was able to apply the knowledge learned during the semester. In the culminating experiment, I constructed a recombinant plasmid by designing primers that helped to create an insert of the gene of interest. I ligated the insert into a plasmid vector containing GFP, which enabled its expression in c. elegans.

• Student Researcher

  • Aug 2009 - Dec 2009

  I researched the effects of hypoxia on hematopoietic stem cells in a team setting. This project consisted of culturing hematopoietic stem cells and fibroblasts under normoxic and hypoxic conditions; we then examined protein expression under each condition. We found that hypoxia acted as a control mechanism to keep stem cells in their stem like state for a longer period of time.



Z-Circut Automation

• Appliances, Electrical, and Electronics Manufacturing

• Marketing Consultant

  • May 2008 - Aug 2008

  Presented technical product information to prospective customers at the Design Automation Conference Vendor fair resulting in an uptick in customer interest for their products. I subsequently created a lead database enabling sales follow up and broader direct marketing.



Stanford University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Evaluation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells for Muscle Healing

  • Sep 2005 - May 2006

  in conjunction with MV High School AP Biology Project I prepared a comparative research paper on adult and embryonic stem cells and completed an experiment establishing the role of the Duf gene in repair of damaged muscle tissue using hematopoietic stem cells. -Immunolabeling of bone marrow cells -Myelomonocytic precursor cell fusion with myotubes -RT-PCR to create cDNA -Gene amplification (Duf) using PCR -Duf plasmid creation with GFP and Ampicillin resistance -Bacterial transformation to replicate Duf… Show more I prepared a comparative research paper on adult and embryonic stem cells and completed an experiment establishing the role of the Duf gene in repair of damaged muscle tissue using hematopoietic stem cells. -Immunolabeling of bone marrow cells -Myelomonocytic precursor cell fusion with myotubes -RT-PCR to create cDNA -Gene amplification (Duf) using PCR -Duf plasmid creation with GFP and Ampicillin resistance -Bacterial transformation to replicate Duf plasmids -Retrovirus generation using Phoenix packaging cells to create retroviral particles with siRNA for Duf -Myoblast infection with retrovirus carrying siRNA for Duf -Gene suppression (Duf) using retroviruses containing siRNA -Gel electrophoresis analysis of Duf gene knockdown efficiency Show less