Experience

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  Notch Therapeutics

  • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

  • Senior Scientist Developmental Immunology

    • May 2020 - Sep 2022
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Notch is an immune cell therapy company developing a next-generation pipeline of off-the-shelf, universally compatible, genetically tailored T cell therapeutics derived from renewable stem cell sources for the treatment of high-impact diseases, with an initial focus on cancer.

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  NodThera Limited

  • Greater Seattle Area

  • Translational Scientist II

    • May 2019 - Mar 2020
    • Greater Seattle Area

    NodThera is a Cambridge (UK) headquartered biotech engaged in innate immune/ inflammasome research. Our leading project is focused on developing inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome for the treatment of inflammatory and neuroinflammatory diseases.

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  OncoResponse

  • Greater Seattle Area

  • Immuno-Oncology Scientist II

    • Feb 2017 - Apr 2019
    • Greater Seattle Area

    OncoResponse is leveraging the human immune system to identify fully human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and discover novel targets that will lead to the development of antibody-derived therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.OncoResponse identifies elite responders to immunotherapy and rapidly screens the adaptive immune system to discover antibodies with exceptional reactivity using a robust and proven human mAb discovery platform, iSTAR. These antibodies address an unmet medical need in patients who are partial or non-responders and expands the promise of immunotherapy.

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  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

  • Greater Seattle Area

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    • Jul 2015 - Jan 2017
    • Greater Seattle Area

    Our lab combines the fields of immunology, bioengineering and gene therapy to harness the immune system to treat solid tumors. When conducting my postdoctoral research on solid tumor immunotherapies, I focused on reversing the immunosuppresssive activity of the tumor microenvironment to improve the effectiveness of "tumor-melting" T cells delivered to inoperable tumors.

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  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  • Whitley/Markert Research Lab

  • Howard Hughes Med-Grad Fellow

    • Aug 2010 - Jul 2015
    • Whitley/Markert Research Lab

    Much of my laboratory work focused on the development of herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) based vectors for treatment of gliomas. These oncolytic viruses are conditionally replicating and destroy tumors through a lytic effect, spreading the tumoricidal virus to neighboring cells in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, they can be used as gene therapy vehicles by expressing immune-stimulating cytokines to enhance the tumoricidal effect.Projects: Utilizing mesenchymal stem cells as carriers of genetically engineered HSV-1 for cancer therapy; IL-17a expression for the treatment of glioma in HSV-1 vectors; analysis of immune response in patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with G207.Additionally, my drug development and clinical training as a Howard Hughes Med-Grad Fellow has provided experience and skills necessary to partner with physician-scientists in preparing drugs for IND candidacy and clinical trials.

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  Oregon Health and Science University

  • Portland, Oregon

  • Research Assistant II

    • Aug 2008 - Jul 2010
    • Portland, Oregon

    I performed a variety of primary and translational laboratory research as well are clerical tasks as lab manager. Many of the experiments regarding my research projects were conducted independently, with periodic review by the principal investigator.

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  Louisiana State University

  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  • Research Assistant I

    • Jan 2007 - Aug 2007
    • Baton Rouge, Louisiana

    Performed various experiments using classical bacteriology approaches as well as molecular biology techniques for characterizing/classifying bacterial strains from arid and hyper-arid environments for microbial diversity taxonomy.