Experience

DMC Biotechnologies, Inc.
• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 1 - 100 Employee
• Sr. Scientist

  • Jun 2022 - Oct 2023


Duke University School of Medicine

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Scientist

  • Jun 2019 - May 2022

• Senior Research Associate

  • May 2012 - May 2019



Duke University Medical Center

• Hospitals and Health Care
• 700 & Above Employee

• Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Jun 2006 - Apr 2012

  In the search of novel antibacterial agents, the endotoxin in the membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is an attractive target. It is required for bacterial survival and plays an essential role in pathogenesis. I discovered and characterized novel biochemical pathways in endotoxin biosynthesis and engineered bacteria for unique membrane lipid metabolism. Characterization of proteins in membrane biosynthesis and their roles in pathogenesis: My research is focused on endotoxin assembly and… Show more In the search of novel antibacterial agents, the endotoxin in the membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is an attractive target. It is required for bacterial survival and plays an essential role in pathogenesis. I discovered and characterized novel biochemical pathways in endotoxin biosynthesis and engineered bacteria for unique membrane lipid metabolism. Characterization of proteins in membrane biosynthesis and their roles in pathogenesis: My research is focused on endotoxin assembly and modification and their roles in the host evasion mechanisms of virulent bacteria. - - Identified a novel two-protein membrane-bound enzyme via library screening and genomic analysis - - Optimized enzyme expression and solubility by growth conditions, vector construction, tag variation, protein co-expression, codon optimization, and host selection - - Engineered bacterial strains with altered membrane lipid composition by heterologously expressing metabolic genes and redirecting native pathways - - Developed in vitro enzymatic activity assays based on the biochemistry of metabolic pathways - - Constructed chromosomal deletion mutants to show the increased resistance to both bacterial and host cationic antimicrobial peptides by endotoxin modification Characterization and identification of genes in phospholipid biosynthesis in E. coli: - - Identified a novel gene in membrane lipid biosynthesis using in vitro screening of an expression library and constructed the first mutant to completely lack one of the major lipids in bacterial membrane - - Developed a mass spectrometry based assay to identify alternative substrates in lipid synthesis and elucidated key missing pieces of phospholipid biosynthesis Show less In the search of novel antibacterial agents, the endotoxin in the membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is an attractive target. It is required for bacterial survival and plays an essential role in pathogenesis. I discovered and characterized novel biochemical pathways in endotoxin biosynthesis and engineered bacteria for unique membrane lipid metabolism. Characterization of proteins in membrane biosynthesis and their roles in pathogenesis: My research is focused on endotoxin assembly and… Show more In the search of novel antibacterial agents, the endotoxin in the membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is an attractive target. It is required for bacterial survival and plays an essential role in pathogenesis. I discovered and characterized novel biochemical pathways in endotoxin biosynthesis and engineered bacteria for unique membrane lipid metabolism. Characterization of proteins in membrane biosynthesis and their roles in pathogenesis: My research is focused on endotoxin assembly and modification and their roles in the host evasion mechanisms of virulent bacteria. - - Identified a novel two-protein membrane-bound enzyme via library screening and genomic analysis - - Optimized enzyme expression and solubility by growth conditions, vector construction, tag variation, protein co-expression, codon optimization, and host selection - - Engineered bacterial strains with altered membrane lipid composition by heterologously expressing metabolic genes and redirecting native pathways - - Developed in vitro enzymatic activity assays based on the biochemistry of metabolic pathways - - Constructed chromosomal deletion mutants to show the increased resistance to both bacterial and host cationic antimicrobial peptides by endotoxin modification Characterization and identification of genes in phospholipid biosynthesis in E. coli: - - Identified a novel gene in membrane lipid biosynthesis using in vitro screening of an expression library and constructed the first mutant to completely lack one of the major lipids in bacterial membrane - - Developed a mass spectrometry based assay to identify alternative substrates in lipid synthesis and elucidated key missing pieces of phospholipid biosynthesis Show less



University of Utah

• 1 - 100 Employee

• Graduate Research Assistant

  • 1997 - 2005

  Protein interactions in bacterial chemotaxis signal transduction: During chemotactic phosphorelay signaling, autophosphorylation of a kinase is coupled to receptor in a ternary protein complex setting. My research identified that the conformational motions are required for the signaling relay. - - Identified the determinants important for receptor coupling control by screening and characterizing a series of missense mutants - - Purified and assayed proteins in vitro to categorize… Show more Protein interactions in bacterial chemotaxis signal transduction: During chemotactic phosphorelay signaling, autophosphorylation of a kinase is coupled to receptor in a ternary protein complex setting. My research identified that the conformational motions are required for the signaling relay. - - Identified the determinants important for receptor coupling control by screening and characterizing a series of missense mutants - - Purified and assayed proteins in vitro to categorize different phenotypic groups of mutants - - Determined binding interactions among protein subdomains and their importance for receptor coupling control Show less Protein interactions in bacterial chemotaxis signal transduction: During chemotactic phosphorelay signaling, autophosphorylation of a kinase is coupled to receptor in a ternary protein complex setting. My research identified that the conformational motions are required for the signaling relay. - - Identified the determinants important for receptor coupling control by screening and characterizing a series of missense mutants - - Purified and assayed proteins in vitro to categorize… Show more Protein interactions in bacterial chemotaxis signal transduction: During chemotactic phosphorelay signaling, autophosphorylation of a kinase is coupled to receptor in a ternary protein complex setting. My research identified that the conformational motions are required for the signaling relay. - - Identified the determinants important for receptor coupling control by screening and characterizing a series of missense mutants - - Purified and assayed proteins in vitro to categorize different phenotypic groups of mutants - - Determined binding interactions among protein subdomains and their importance for receptor coupling control Show less



Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS

• Biotechnology Research
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Research Assistant

  • 1994 - 1997

  In silico research on polymorphism of DNA structures: - - Performed energy minimization and molecular dynamic simulation analyses on the effects of base stacking and composition in various DNA structures - - Created custom scripts for model optimization and developed simulation methods to produce data for two published articles In silico research on polymorphism of DNA structures: - - Performed energy minimization and molecular dynamic simulation analyses on the effects of base stacking and composition in various DNA structures - - Created custom scripts for model optimization and developed simulation methods to produce data for two published articles