Experience

Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF)

• United States
• Biotechnology
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Commissioner

  • Feb 2021 - Present

  Review grants and make decisions on funding to promote the advancement of stem cell research and therapy development. Review grants and make decisions on funding to promote the advancement of stem cell research and therapy development.



United Therapeutics Corporation

• United States
• Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee

• Director, Tissue Systems, Organ Manufacturing Group

  • Mar 2021 - Jul 2023

• Senior Manager, Tissue Systems, Organ Manufacturing Group

  • Jan 2020 - Mar 2021

• Senior Manager, Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine Laboratory

  • Mar 2019 - Jan 2020

• Senior Scientist, Regenerative Medicine Laboratory

  • Mar 2018 - Mar 2019

• Scientist, Regenerative Medicine Laboratory

  • Mar 2016 - Mar 2018

  Establishing, designing, and optimizing tissue engineering technologies to generate functional lungs to reach corporate goals of producing "an unlimited supply of transplantable organs." Lead, manage, and work within an interdisciplinary team of engineers, scientist, and cell biologist in efforts to generate functional lungs that will increase the pool of organs available for transplantation.

• Associate Scientist, Regenerative Medicine Laboratory

  • Jan 2014 - Mar 2016

  Lead efforts and establish processes for derivation/generation of stem/progenitor cell populations for tissue engineered lungs.Identify and establish cost effective strategic partnerships to meet cell sourcing requirements for R&D efforts towards corporate goals of producing "an unlimited supply of transplantable organs." Lead and facilitate technology transfer of key protocols/processes to establish R&D efforts towards corporate goals of producing "an unlimited supply of transplantable organs." Show less



Duke University Pratt School of Engineering

• United States
• Higher Education
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Biomedical Engineering

  • Sep 2012 - Jan 2014

  Project Title: Guiding Functional Vessel Formation Using Oxygen Tension and Biomimetic Patterns Mentor: Jennifer L. West, Ph.D. •Independently design and execute a series of experiments to test hypotheses related to project outcomes •Assists in the design of experiments for junior researchers •Examine effects of oxygen tension and peptide patterns on vessel formation kinetics •Synthesize biomaterials with different adhesive, degradation, and mechanical properties •Develop functional vascularized cardiac patches using PEG hydrogels in collaboration with Bursac Lab for Cardiac Electrophysiology and Tissue Engineering Show less


Duke University
• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee
• Regulatory Affairs Intern, Duke Translation Institute Regulatory Affairs Office

  • Oct 2013 - Dec 2013


Duke Clinical Research Institute

• United States
• Research Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Clinical Research Intern

  • Aug 2013 - Nov 2013

  Mentor: Michael Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD PhD -Coordinate project to use Raman spectroscopy to determine drug levels in infants, developing IRB protocol and project budget, planning and designing experiment, -Assist in performing pharmacokinetics analysis of data from Phase I Clinical Trial for Cempra Pharmaceuticals Mentor: Michael Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD PhD -Coordinate project to use Raman spectroscopy to determine drug levels in infants, developing IRB protocol and project budget, planning and designing experiment, -Assist in performing pharmacokinetics analysis of data from Phase I Clinical Trial for Cempra Pharmaceuticals



Rice University Department of Bioengineering

• United States
• Biotechnology
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, West Laboratory for Biofunctional Materials

  • Apr 2012 - Sep 2012

  Project Title: Guiding Functional Vessel Formation Using Oxygen Tension and Biomimetic Patterns Mentor: Jennifer L. West •Developed and wrote original research grant for NIH F32 Postdoctroal Research Fellowship •Examine effects of oxygen tension and peptide patterns on vessel formation kinetics •Develop in vitro models of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis using stem cell derived endothelial cells Project Title: Guiding Functional Vessel Formation Using Oxygen Tension and Biomimetic Patterns Mentor: Jennifer L. West •Developed and wrote original research grant for NIH F32 Postdoctroal Research Fellowship •Examine effects of oxygen tension and peptide patterns on vessel formation kinetics •Develop in vitro models of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis using stem cell derived endothelial cells



Georgia Institute of Technology

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow

  • Jun 2007 - Jan 2012

  Project Title: Mechanical Preconditioning Effects on Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Adivsors: Todd C. McDevitt, Robert M. Nerem •Summarize data and analyzes results, independently formulates conclusions, and determines future experiments •Routinely culture embryonic stem cells and embryoid bodies•Design experiments using bioreactors (parallel plate flow chamber, rotary orbital shaker)•Analyze effects of fluid shear stress and oxygen levels on stem cell differentiation and morphogenesis Show less

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow

  • Aug 2006 - Aug 2007

  Project Title: Therapeutic Potential of Endothelial Progenitor Cells for Vascular GraftsAdvisor: Robert M. Nerem•Routinely isolated cells from human whole blood and cultured endothelial cells•Maintained IRB protocols and informed consent documents•Used parallel plate flow chamber to assess shear stress effects on endothelial progenitor cells•Synthesized tissue engineering vascular grafts