Curriculum Vitae

Biomarker statistical expert representing Data Science. Develops and executes project specific biomarker strategies for one or more multiple global projects. Participates in project teams for planning and development of early phase clinical trials in clinical development programs and/or lifecycle management of marketed products. Utilizes knowledge from clinical biomarkers in clinical trials with a variety of 'omics data and clinical trial endpoint data into the strategy for progressing development projects.

Key achievements:

• Provided strategic input and testing of high-performance scientific computing environments.
• Focused on generative AI capabilities, including synthetic data and large language models (LLMs).

Leads development of diagnostic test recommendations using machine learning to provide insights based on real-world laboratory testing, augment clinical guidelines, and more accurately target early interventions for use in clinical decision support and clinical trial recruitment. Routinely runs experiments to determine evaluate model performance and parameter behaviour, improve feature selection, better explain model classification, and link to known disease biology and published results. Leads new feature development for Compass AI, consisting of an AI-driven biomarker-to-test and analyte-to-test recommendation system, a search engine for analytes, test & result codes, NGS panel genes, laboratories, and an ICD9/10 lookup and translation tool.

Key achievements:

• Leads development and implementation of test recommendations using machine learning.
• Develops disease biology models (disease-specific knowledge graphs) to identify biomarker candidates for client presentations and RFPs.
• Labcorp IT Innovation Days winner, 2021 Ambitious Idea: Clinical Decision Support with Artificial Intelligence.

Served as lead of knowledge engineering for a team of three focusing on an enterprise knowledge graph. Also a member of a larger team focused on machine learning to predict abnormal results for tests used in the diagnosis of a given disease. Interviewed medical subject matter experts to identify relevant testing. Built patient cohorts from Amazon Athena, Hadoop Hue, Datameer, and Oracle databases. Built, launched and administrated the Labcorp Knowledge Wiki, a platform to capture, archive and share biological, clinical, operational and institutional knowledge.

Key achievements:

• Lead development of an enterprise knowledge graph.
• Lead development of test recommendations using machine learning.
• Developed an internship project and managed a remote intern (2020).
• Labcorp IT Innovation Days winner, 2020 Most Innovative Idea: Cognitive MDSL on FHIR.

Leveraged existing methods and developed new analytical approaches for the discovery, integration, analysis, and modeling of molecular data from a wide variety of sources including patient data, literature and high-throughput 'omic platforms. Worked closely with scientists, software engineers and clinicians to support integrative data discovery and reporting (including biomarkers, alternative testing, etc.) in a clinical/diagnostic setting.

Key achievements:

• Launched the first production version of Compass AI, an internal company test search engine and biomarker recommendation system.
• Presented/promoted Compass AI across the enterprise on a monthly basis for over a year.
• Developed an internship project, managed an intern, and coordinated all site intern program activities (2017).

New media lab, incubator and online publisher focusing on health and life sciences (sole proprietorship). Created and delivered content to attract and engage a defined target audience. Served as editor and lead writer, directed a staff of four, oversaw advertising and social media, managed a variety of new media projects, and evaluated new ways to engage audiences and to communicate and collaborate utilizing multimedia tools and internet technologies. Advised clients on key tactics, best practices, digital marketing approaches, and channel measurement plans.

Key achievements:

• Self-taught web development, HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript and Linux server administration.
• Developed customized business intelligence systems (automated data mining) to help organizations dealing with information overload.
• Company was profitable for ten years.

Participated in departmental bioinformatics faculty research, in particular the development and use of a visual exploratory tool for expression panel biomarkers organized by molecular interaction networks (knowledge graphs).

Key achievements:

• Mentored undergraduate and graduate students through the Indiana Center for Systems Biology and Personalized Medicine focused on developing systems biology techniques for advancing drug discovery.

Primary responsibility was to liaise Informatics with Covance Early Development and drive new collaborations. Researched existing methods and developed new approaches for the statistical and computational analysis and modeling of drug development data. Leveraged feature selection procedures to distill large datasets and identify relevant pieces of information. Collaborated with key business groups to develop and execute processes to collect, perform data quality assurance, and to structure data. Responsible for the visualization of data for clinical metrics, operational analysis, clinical and financial forecasting. Executed recurring data mining activities providing for key analytical capabilities.

Key achievements:

• Conceived and started development of Compass AI, an internal company test search engine and biomarker recommendation system.
• Developed internship projects, managed interns, and coordinated all site intern program activities (2014 – 2016).
• Nominated for the Covance Way Award, 2015, which recognizes the top 1% of employees globally who demonstrate exemplary performance during a given year.

Mentored students in the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research institute Systems Pharmacology project "Rapid development of clinical trial candidates using cancer systems pharmacology." Identified relationships among genes, diseases, drugs, protein targets and symptoms/phenotypes.

Key achievements:

• Developed an academic and business relationship with the Center for Systems Biology & Personalized Medicine at IUPUI to recruit Covance interns.

Routinely mined, analyzed and interpreted complex biological and clinical data from various sources. Developed computational tools and interfaces to support biomarker data mining. Developed computational methods and algorithms. Worked closely with therapeutic area experts and marketing to define and implement a digital science marketing strategy for the Biomarker Center of Excellence. Routinely oversaw and coordinated the creation, organization, production and dissemination of scientist-generated media. Maintained a portfolio of projects for external communication of science-related activities.

Key achievements:

• Responsible for bringing in over $400,000 in client project revenue.
• Conceived and implemented a method to model disease biology and identify candidate biomarkers.
• Developed an internship project and managed an intern (2012).
• Nominated for the Covance Way Award, 2011, which recognizes the top 1% of employees globally who demonstrate exemplary performance during a given year.

Responsible for developing data resources that allowed for the use of a variety of statistical and biological analysis approaches to evaluate microarray data, as well as additional data related to variations in disease severity, histological patterns and proteomic data being collected from mouse animal models of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), human neurofibromas and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Lead bioinformatician that collaborated with principle investigators of the Neurofibromatosis Microarray and Systems Biology Consortium to develop bioinformatics analyses to understand the molecular mechanisms by which tumors form and progress with the ultimate goal of developing treatment strategies.

Key achievements:

• Developed integrative genomic approaches to identify NF1 biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
• Identified MEK as a therapeutic target to reduced aberrantly proliferating cells in neurofibroma and MPNST, prolong survival of mice implanted with human MPNST cells, and shrink neurofibroma tumor volume.
• Developed systems biology approaches to understand the mechanisms of NF1, NF2 and Schwannomatosis tumor development and progression.

Utilized transcriptional regulatory and gene interaction networks, cancer biology and embryonic and postnatal development in human and mouse models to inform and characterize biological states, disease processes and developmental disorders. Used functional and comparative genomics approaches, as well as the incorporation of histologic patterns and clinical information, to develop an integrative biology approach that could be applied to a range of genetic diseases.

Key achievements:

• Developed fluency with cancer biology and embryonic & postnatal development in human and mouse models.
• Developed a cross-species virtual microarray to analyze and visualize mouse-human gene ortholog expression.
• Developed bioinformatics, functional genomics, and statistical skills.

Developed a kinetic approach for analysis of chromatin remodeling in vivo, demonstrating that nucleosomes proximal to transactivator binding sites are remodeled earlier than those more distal. Developed an in vivo single molecule assay that identifies multiple promoter classes and supports a probabilistic model in which chromatin remodeling spreads from sites of transactivator binding and attenuates with distance. Bioengineered inducible DNA methyltransferase systems for the in vivo detection of chromatin structural changes, targeted methylation, and factor footprints.

Physics research project involved the design, construction and use of a nitrogen laser for the study of dielectric breakdown and spark generation. Presented "Dielectric Breakdown and Spark Generation" at the Annual Argonne Undergraduate Research Symposium, Argonne National Lab.

• Teaching Assistant, Introductory Physics; Physics and Math Tutor
• Employed full-time while attending classes and maintained a GPA of 3.4
• President, Society of Physics Students
• “Best and Brightest” award, Department of Chemistry and Physics
• Nominated to Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society