Experience

SoBran BioScience

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 1 - 100 Employee

• ACUC Administrator for NIAAA

  • May 2015 - Present

  Process new Animal Study Proposals and amendments submitted to the Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC); perform initial review to monitor for quality assurance and compliance with animal welfare regulations and policies Stay up to date on current regulations and ensure compliance with NIH PHS Policy, the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals, the Animal Welfare Act, The Guide, U.S. Government Principles, and other applicable NIH and NIAAA institute specific policies Serve as the point of contact and maintain open communication with veterinarians, investigators, facility management, safety personnel, and grantees on matters pertaining to the ACUC Track and schedule ASP annual reviews, renewals, pending pilot study reports and amendments, investigator and staff training requirements Schedule and participate in monthly ACUC meetings, semiannual program review, facility and lab inspections, and AAALAC site visits Generate agendas and distribute packets for ACUC meetings and document meeting minutes Draft various documents communicating the status of submissions made to the ACUC, ACUC letters to investigators, and other Committee correspondence as needed Log, update, and maintain data as needed in an Access database to store ASP related information and documentation of personnel training Generate various reports such as the Office of Animal Care and Use (OACU) Semiannual Program Review Report and USDA Annual Report Collate information and assist in editing the AAALAC Program Description Maintain the NIAAA ACUC SharePoint site for individuals to access relevant documents Maintain animal census records in Excel and generate monthly reports for investigators, and animal census annual reports Maintain sentinel submission reports by Fiscal Year; compile health reports with facility related information Maintain import/export records in Excel Show less



SoBran-Inc

• United States
• Government Relations Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Animal Facility Specialist III

  • Dec 2009 - May 2015

  Manage a staff of 4-6 veterinary technicians Monitor health and welfare issues pertaining to 100 active animal study proposals and 25-30,000 mice belonging to 6 different NIH institutes housing their animals in our facility Train new staff and research personnel in facility standard operating procedures and technical procedures and assist in bi-monthly continuing education training for facility technicians Perform quality control inspections and assessments to ensure standards are being met and records are accurate Participate in facility inspections from institutional animal care and use committees (IACUC) and respond to findings and deficiencies that are noted in reports Schedule and lead team meetings and develop agendas for meetings Involved in new investigator orientations to the facility Arrange and participate in meetings with investigators and pre-review animal study proposals and technical service requests to determine research needs and plans for accommodation Communicate daily and maintain an effective relationship with government management, veterinarians, investigators and all facility staff Manage the technical request online database receiving, accepting, delegating, and performing requests submitted by investigators Act as a point of contact for coordination of rodent exports Maintain a sentinel colony and corresponding records; perform routine submissions for health surveillance Coordinate isolation testing for rodent import permits (schedule tests, compile and track results, update information onto a shared calendar on Microsoft Outlook) Track billable technician time and submit a report monthly to the government manager Maintain facility documents and provide reports to upper management regarding animal health cases, mortality reports, tag and tail documentation, and technical service requests Create and manage the technician supply inventory and place orders timely though the NIH POTS order system to ensure proper supply levels Show less



Charles River Laboratories

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Support Specialist III

  • Nov 2006 - Dec 2009

  Managed multiple pre-clinical animal studies running concurrently aimed at increasing knowledge and development of malarial vaccines Responsible for all technical aspects of the animal research such as injections, blood and tissue collections for multiple species (mouse, rat, rabbit, and non-human primates) Scheduled and coordinated timelines for research projects Reviewed and audited research documents such as animal study proposals, standard operating procedures and research data for accuracy and completeness Reviewed and maintained ACUC approved animal study proposals Created animal study workbooks on Microsoft Excel to track study related information and provided quality assurance related to the integrity and accuracy of the data in the workbooks Served as an alternate on an ACUC committee Created and revised standard operating procedures Ordered study animals and organized housing and research group assignments Maintained animal and supply inventories and ordered all necessary equipment Trained new staff on standard operating procedures, technical procedures, and data entry and archival Involved in large purchase orders placed for new lab equipment (receiving quotes, researching different devices). Handled and prepared samples and specimens for transport Performed bench-top technical procedures such as centrifugation (sera collection, hematocrits), microscopy (counting parasite density in blood films), proper freeze-down, and thawing of cryopreserved samples, pipetting, aliquoting, dilutions, etc. Maintained an inventory related to biological samples Kept accurate controlled substance logs and inventory of all drugs Attended lab meetings regularly and was involved in many collaborative projects Show less



Virginia Tech

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Graduate Research Assistant

  • Aug 2004 - Sep 2006

  Courses centered attention on nutritional biochemistry with a leaning toward aquatic animals Performed numerous literature searches and carried out independent research projects Scheduled and coordinated all research activities including feed preparation, termination of study procedures, post-study data collection and analysis Provided reports to advisors regularly regarding the status of research efforts Wrote and published 5 papers in peer-reviewed journals based on results from research projects Attended national and international industry conventions and delivered poster and oral presentations regarding my research efforts Conducted feed formulation and manufacture Compositional analysis (determined amounts of protein, lipid, dry matter and ash in fish tissues) Product quality evaluation Water quality assessments and maintenance of the recirculation system housing the fish Dye-dilution methodologies Date entry and archival and ensured that all data captured were accurate Statistical analysis of data (SAS program) Show less