Experience

Epic Bio

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Translational Medicine Lead

  • Jun 2023 - Present



Sarepta Therapeutics

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 700 & Above Employee

• Scientist II, Gene Editing Innovation Center

  • Sep 2020 - May 2023



University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Medicine

• United States
• Higher Education
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Aug 2016 - Sep 2020

  I lead multiple research projects related to gene therapy development for DMD. These include studying the therapeutic potential of long-term CRISPR genome editing, evaluating SERCA2a gene therapy as a novel dystrophin-independent approach to improve calcium handling in the dystrophic heart, and evaluating novel synthetic dystrophin genes for heart-protective properties.

• Graduate Research Assistant

  • Mar 2011 - Jul 2016

  I led multiple research projects to answer several fundamental questions related to DMD gene therapy. Specifically, I studied (1) whether selective replacement of dystrophin in skeletal muscle has unsought cardiac consequences (2) whether transient dystrophin expression is sufficient to provide long-term therapeutic benefit, (3) structure-function relationship of engineered dystrophin in the heart to identify cardioprotective dystrophin domains and (4) therapeutic potential of low-level dystrophin expression in the heart. Show less



Oklahoma State University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Graduate Research Assistant

  • Aug 2007 - Jul 2010

  I studied the identification and characterized the full-length cDNA sequence of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) from the American dog tick. The nucleotide and putative amino acid sequences from this study shared a high level of sequence conservation with other tick MIFs. MIF has been identified from many organisms including mammals, nematodes, arthropods, jawed/ jawless fish, plants, cyanobacteria, and parasites. The bioinformatics analysis showed the across species conservation of the MIF amino acid sequence in ticks, nematodes, and insects. My research studies identified the upregulation of the MIF gene expression during 0-96 hrs fed female ticks. I also studied the effects of RNAi mediated gene silencing of MIF and subsequent effects on blood meal acquisition. Show less



University of Colombo

• Sri Lanka
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Teaching Assistant

  • Jul 2005 - Jul 2007