Experience

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  Stay at Home Mom

  • Stay-at-Home Mom

    • Sep 2018 - Present

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  Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV)

  • Baltimore, Maryland Area

  • Associate Director, Business Development

    • Dec 2015 - Aug 2018
    • Baltimore, Maryland Area

    The Business Development & Corporate Partnerships team within Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) is responsible for developing and facilitating internal and external business development initiatives; fostering relationships with industry; identifying and engaging potential technology licensees; and managing large scale industry collaborations. My primary areas of focus are on life sciences, specifically advanced therapeutics, bioengineering, and innovations in global health.

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  Johns Hopkins University

  • Baltimore, Maryland Area

  • Adjunct Faculty

    • Aug 2015 - Aug 2018
    • Baltimore, Maryland Area

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  Innovesca

  • Pittsburgh, PA

  • Founder

    • Nov 2012 - Nov 2015
    • Pittsburgh, PA

    Innovesca is a food innovation company that aims to improve global health by revolutionizing nutrition. We transform underutilized plants into nutraceutical ingredients by naturally unlocking the full nutritional benefits of whole foods. Developed with support from the Gates Foundation and National Science Foundation, our ingredients boost nutrient bioavailability—allowing the body to access more vitamins and minerals per bite—and can be incorporated into a range of functional foods to enable nutritious products powered by Innovesca. Innovesca is committed to creating a positive impact through responsibly sourcing raw materials directly from smallholder farmers and processing locally to support developing economies. As a result, our ingredients offer the unique value of bringing both nutritional and social innovation to food products, ultimately meeting the demands of end consumers.

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  Carnegie Mellon University

  • Pittsburgh, PA

  • PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering

    • Aug 2009 - Aug 2013
    • Pittsburgh, PA

    • Spearheaded R&D from experimental design & execution to data interpretation & communication• Fostered interdisciplinary idea generation and problem-solving via team collaboration • Extensive experience in proposal writing -- awarded competitive Gates Foundation grant• Presented at numerous conferences to both technical and non-technical audiences--------RESEARCH DESCRIPTION Dissertation: "Engineering the Microarchitecture of Biological Systems to Optimize Functionality Through Bottom-up and Top-down Approaches"Bottom-up: 3D SYNTHETIC VASCULAR NETWORKS TARGETING LIVER REGENERATION -- Engineering micropatterned cell co-cultures by combining reversible thermal gels with micromachining as a novel and transformative approach to engineering vasculature.Top-down: AFRICAN LEAFY VEGETABLES FOR IMPROVED CHILD NUTRITION IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD -- Utilizing cell mechanics to increase nutrition in infants and children through altering nutrient bioavailability and palatability of underutilized vegetable fare (funded by a Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration Phase I award)

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  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  • Birmingham, Alabama Area

  • Graduate Research Assistant

    • Jun 2007 - Jul 2009
    • Birmingham, Alabama Area

    DMD/PhD dual-degree training programAdvisor: Mary MacDougallProject: Effect of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) on dental pulp differentiation

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  Carnegie Mellon University

  • Greater Pittsburgh Area

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant

    • May 2004 - May 2007
    • Greater Pittsburgh Area

    Advisors: Prashant Kumta (CMU) & Charles Sfeir (Pitt)Project 1: Characterization of nano-calcium phosphate particles for non-viral gene delivery.Project 2: ECM protein interactions via RGD–dependent and –independent mechanisms.