Chief Scientific Officer Resume Example

Developed multiplexed cell-based qRT-PCR high-throughput drug screening assay to detect hTERT mRNA and reference gene expression in normal human somatic cells down to 0.005 mRNA copies/cell, utilizing magnetic oligo(dT) beads in 96-well format RNA isolations, and CellTiter-Glo Luminescent Cell Viability assays of lysate aliquots in tandem. This robust assay served as driving force for redesigning drug discovery operations to screen 10,000+ compounds per week with established quality control practices.

• Managed 20+ employees on multi-disciplinary team to screen 300,000+ small-molecules, identifying >1700 novel telomerase activating small-molecules covering 30 unique structure classes leading to discovery of TAM-818 and IsaGenesis® months ahead of schedule using Biomek FX, LightCycler 480, and Envision hardware.
• Trained 3-6 employees per week in all areas of drug discovery (sample process tracking, liquid handling, reagent management, and lab instrument operation).
• Built data management files/templates to streamline analytics.
• Facilitated communication by conducting weekly meetings with team members; providing weekly screening reports for internal/external stakeholders.
• Guided IT department to reinforce documentation of scientific processes.
• Boosted drug efficacy by providing valuable data to design 400 custom small molecules based on structure activity relationships of lead compounds.
• Fostered partnership with collaborating scientist as co-inventor on patent for nutritional activation of telomerase.

Executed 3 research projects over 3 years in molecular biology, protein chemistry, and assay development to discover transcription factor(s) responsible for repressing hTERT gene expression in normal human somatic cells.

• Mapped hundreds of mutations in telomerase promoter using site-directed mutagenesis, DNA sequencing analysis, and plasmid reporter assays to identify novel repressor binding sites.
• Discovered transcription factor LSF binding to putative repressor DNA binding site in hTERT promoter using Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC), Electro-Mobility Shift Assays (EMSAs), and GC-MS.
• Implemented RNAi (siRNA, lentiviral shRNA vectors) to knock-down expression of candidate hTERT repressor proteins in-vitro.
• Co-invented drug-screening assay using mutant RNA component of telomerase.
• Organized research data to create representative graphs to highlight results for presentations.

Recognized by leadership as best employee in molecular biology with unparalleled efficiency, completing complex plasmid construction projects while generating 3,000+ plasmids to characterize the hTERT minimal promoter months ahead of schedule.

• Established skillsets (site-directed mutagenesis, RNA/DNA extractions, plasmid construction, plasmid purification, gel electrophoresis, and assay development).