Professional experience
NIH Post-Doctoral Research Fellow | Harvard Medical School
September 2012 – present | Boston, MA
- Investigating the role of CAAX membrane proteases in the model organism Staphylococcus aureus using high-throughput transposon mutagenesis screens as well as genetic and biochemical techniques to determine regulation and protein interactions.
- Successfully assisted and secured funding from NIH and other sources.
- Mentoring undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows
Ph.D. Researcher | Texas A&M University
August 2007-August 2012 | College Station, TX
- Determined the role of bacterial virus-encoded membrane proteins in the lysis of Escherichia coli.
- Used genetic, biochemical, and biophysical techniques to dissect the protein-protein interactions that are required for virus-induced lysis of the host and the regulation of lysis. Successfully collaborated with several labs at Texas A&M to characterize and determine the structures of the proteins of interest.
- Collaborated with researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center to validate that Bcl-2 family members share functional similarities with bacterial virus proteins whose function is to lyse the bacterial host.
- Organized, summarized, and reviewed monthly laboratory budget as purchasing manager for the lab; negotiated pricing of equipment and reagents with vendors.
- Mentored graduate and undergraduate students.
Research Scientist | Advanced Concepts and Technologies International
August 2005-July 2007 | Waco, TX
- Assessed and developed novel technologies to detect and mitigate CBRN agents in water in collaboration with Department of Defense/US Army research collaborators.
- Certified by the EPA for various microbiological assays, established SOPs and maintained GLPs in an ISO 9001 certified environment.
- Promoted within to Research Scientist from Research Analyst.
Technical Experience
Molecular biology: cell biology, yeast cell culture, PCR, construct design, manipulation, and cloning, DNA extraction and sequencing, genetic knockouts, random and directed mutagenesis, familiar with both yeast and phage surface display technologies
Biochemistry and Biophysics: protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions, recombinant protein expression, purification, characterization, and conjugation, protein crystallization and X-ray crystallography, protein NMR, microscopy (light/fluorescence/electron)
Microbiology: bacterial culture, phage biology, genetics and manipulation of Gram positive and negative organisms
High-throughput methods: Transposon mutagenesis mapping, Illumina genotyping and data analysis, candidate gene identification, small molecule screening, flow cytometry, bioinformatics
Scientific writing: data analysis and figure preparation, manuscript writing and editing
Management and Collaboration: mentoring young scientists and teaching, leading team-based experiments, proven record of successful internal and external collaboration
Education
Ph.D., Microbiology and Biochemistry/Biophysics | Texas A&M University
August 2007-August 2012 | College Station, TX
Master of Science, Biology | Baylor University
August 2003-August 2005 | Waco, TX
Bachelor of Science, Biology. Minors: Chemistry & Criminal Justice | Baylor University
August 1999-May 2003 | Waco, TX