Experience

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  Curi Bio

  • United States
  • Biotechnology Research
  • 1 - 100 Employee

  • Director, Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering

    • 2020 - Present

  • Senior Research Scientist

    • Jan 2019 - Nov 2020

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  University of Washington

  • Seattle, WA

  • Postdoctoral Fellow

    • Jun 2017 - Feb 2019
    • Seattle, WA

    As a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Jessica Young's laboratory, I focused on investigating the role of Histone Deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons. HDAC2 is aberrantly upregulated in Alzheimer’s disease patients, across all Braak Stages, suggesting that its inhibition may be a viable therapeutic option and its presence may represent a novel biomarker. In addition to this project, I developed methods of increasing the functional maturity of hiPSC-Ns in culture. As animal models have failed in accurately recapitulating advanced human neurodegenerative diseases, precise human model development is vital. As electrical function is a hallmark of neuronal identity, driving neuronal maturity and function forward will make in vitro investigations cheaper, better, and faster for the testing and development of therapeutic drugs.io

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  Institute of Translational Health Sciences

  • University of Washington

  • Program Manager

    • Oct 2015 - May 2017
    • University of Washington

    Responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of a Pilot Award Program supporting academic researchers and research clinicians focused on translation of benchtop science to the clinic. In addition to the execution of the Pilot Award Program, I contributed significant content to and helped manage the organization of a successful $60 million federal (NIH, NCATS) grant to fund the next five years of the institute’s mission. I also consulted for and assisted with research activities in the ITHS Gene and Cell Therapy Lab, a common Good Manufacturing Practice facility that develops and manufactures gene-modified cells, vectors, and manipulates cells for novel therapy products. I also was a leader in Team Science programmatic efforts including management of the Northwest Heart Failure Collaborative, an interprofessional educational webinar series.

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  University of Central Florida

  • Hybrid Systems Lab, Nanoscience Technology Center

  • NanoScience Technology Center Doctoral Research Fellow

    • 2009 - Dec 2015
    • Hybrid Systems Lab, Nanoscience Technology Center

    As a NanoScience Technology Center Graduate Research Fellow, I concentrated on developing highly controlled, human in vitro systems for use in high-throughput drug screening and body-on-a-chip systems, including the development of a more bio-mimetic in vitro model of Alzheimer's Disease. I was trained in cell culture, primary dissection, immunocytochemistry, electrophysiology, and surface chemistry techniques and was responsible for independently carrying out my doctoral research as well as assisting with cooperative lab projects, including providing electrophysiological data and analysis for multiple industry-backed collaborations.

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  University of Central Florida/ University of Florida

  • Kennedy Space Center, FL

  • NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium Masters Research Fellow

    • Aug 2005 - Aug 2008
    • Kennedy Space Center, FL

    As a Florida Space Grant Consortium Fellow, I studied the ability for common biological spacecraft contaminants to grow and/or survive in harsh environments similar to those encountered at sites of special scientific interest. This work was conducted at the Kennedy Space Center’s Space Life Sciences lab and was supported by a grant from the NASA Office of Planetary Protection to “preserve our ability to study other worlds as the exist in their natural states and avoid the biological contamination of explored environments that may obscure our ability to find life elsewhere – if it exists”. As part of my time at the Space Life Sciences lab, I also interned with Dynamac International, Inc. to assist with flight experiments for STS-115 (Atlantis Shuttle Mission) and perform molecular analyses of microorganisms exposed to low-gravity environments. I also interned with the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate to characterize Mars analog soils for the extraction of viable cells. I was responsible for maintaining microbial cultures, analyzing data, and designing experiments for the Mars Simulation Chamber.