Abhay Andar
Director, Ex Vivo (Cancer Research, Microfluidics And Automation)
Washington,DC
Summary
I am a highly motivated, and dynamic leader with 10+ years of experience in biopharmaceuticals and lab-on-a-chip technologies. Collaborative leader with dedication to partnering with coworkers to promote engaged, empowering work culture. Documented strengths in building and maintaining relationships with diverse range of stakeholders in dynamic, fast-paced settings.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Director
Ex Vivo, Champions Oncology
Rockville, MD
03.2022 - Current
- As Director, I grew the Ex Vivo team of 11 employees when I first started to a team of 25.
- Implemented automated workflows thus increasing efficiency and building a lean team of 18 total employees.
- Increased revenue from 1 Million per fiscal quarter to 3 Million per fiscal quarter.
- We added 3 new products to our Ex Vivo offering, these included; TumorGraft3D Organoid platform for our Solid tumor product line, Multiple Myeloma, Myelodysplastic Syndrome, Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia, for our Heme offering.
- We grew our Organoid banks from 4 models to 165 models in 1 year under my leadership.
- My multidisciplinary background was instrumental in building a microfluidic tumor-on-a-chip research program at Champions.
- Worked closely with organizational leadership to build operational strategy, and provide ideas to effectively target new market opportunities.
- Guided team leads with problematic customers and clients to maintain excellent customer service and strengthen client relationships.
Adjunct Faculty
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Gaithersburg, United States
01.2020 - 12.2022
- Taught 3 semesters of BTEC 453: Bioprocess engineering and 2 semesters of BTEC 470 Advanced Biomanufacturing - Shady Grove, Translational Life Science and Technology Program, Dept Of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, UMBC
- The courses cover basic concepts in fermentation technology, bioprocess engineering, biotechnology for industrial scale unit operations, elements of cell growth kinetics, enzyme kinetics, cell culture, cell line development, design of experiments (DOE), advanced biomanufacturing unit operations and process design, process analytical technologies and regulatory aspects to biomanufacturing.
Senior Scientist
Potomac Photonics Inc
Baltimore, United States
10.2019 - 02.2022
- As Senior Scientist I was engaged in product design, training, supervision and design of experiments (DOE) for contracted and internal R&D projects
- Regularly engage with our Chief Technology Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and stakeholders to assess market value, and new technologies to boost our product pipeline.
- During my tenure we won 3 federally funded grants (2 NSF and 1 FDA award) in collaboration with our clients. This yielded future funding and 5 journal publications together with our collaborators.
- I was also invited to be an Industry mentor for the National NSF-I-Corps program for customer discovery in advanced manufacturing.
- I successfully transferred several products and process methods to operations for manufacturing utilizing ISO 9001 guidelines.
Research Faculty
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Advanced Sensor Technology
Baltimore, United States
01.2016 - 09.2019
- Planned and led efforts towards developing next-generation microfluidic devices for point-of-care applications
- My efforts yielded 6 journal publications and 2 patents
- My role in the DARPA-led project was to provide design expertise for building Microfluidic On-Chip-cGMP protein manufacturing toolkits.
- I provided regulatory strategies for to ensure compliance with ICH (International Conference on Harmonization), FDA and CMC (Chemistry, manufacturing, and controls) requirements.
- As Research Faculty I was dedicated towards delivering scientific presentations, mentoring students, writing manuscripts, grants, and patents for the team.
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
University of Maryland Baltimore, Pharmacy
Baltimore, United States
04.2011 - 12.2015
- Designed and led projects that included microfluidic device design and microfabrication for drug delivery
- My efforts during this Postdoc yielded 7 journal publications
- Focused on transdermal drug delivery and dermal evaluation of nanoparticles, proteins and small molecules and engineered a Pharmacy-on-a-chip platform for microfluidic preparation of liposomes.
- Gained experience with nanoparticle particle characterization, microscopy techniques (confocal, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopy) nanoparticle synthesis and method development for RP-HPLC and LC/MS/MS
- Managed and wrote IACUC animal protocols and handling animal experiments (Yucatan minipigs and guinea pigs).
Research Assistant
University of Glasgow, Cell Engineering
Glasgow, UK
08.2005 - 04.2006
- Received extensive training in mammalian cell culture, biochemical and molecular assays, and nano/micro-fabrication techniques, microfluidics, resulting in 4 publications and 5 conference articles.
Education
Ph.D. - Biomedical Science And Engineering
University Of Glasgow
Scotland, UK 05.2006 - 05.2010
Master of Science - Biomedical Science And Engineering
University of Glasgow
Scotland, UK 08.2004 - 05.2005
Bachelor of Science - Life Sciences
University of Mumbai, Ramnarain Ruia College
Mumbai, India 06.2001 - 05.2004
Skills
Staff Management
Operations management
Budgeting
Process improvements
Strategic planning and execution
Performance Analysis
Employee scheduling
Assay development
Quantitative analysis
Report generation
Excellent Communication
Teamwork and Collaboration
Cell and Tissue Engineering
Stem cell biology
Cancer biology
Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-chip technologies
Microfabrication
Medical device manufacturing
Timeline
Director
Ex Vivo, Champions Oncology
03.2022 - Current
Adjunct Faculty
University of Maryland Baltimore County
01.2020 - 12.2022
Senior Scientist
Potomac Photonics Inc
10.2019 - 02.2022
Research Faculty
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Advanced Sensor Technology
01.2016 - 09.2019
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
University of Maryland Baltimore, Pharmacy
04.2011 - 12.2015
Ph.D. - Biomedical Science And Engineering
University Of Glasgow
05.2006 - 05.2010
Research Assistant
University of Glasgow, Cell Engineering
08.2005 - 04.2006
Master of Science - Biomedical Science And Engineering
University of Glasgow
08.2004 - 05.2005
Bachelor of Science - Life Sciences
University of Mumbai, Ramnarain Ruia College
06.2001 - 05.2004
Selected Publications
- S Kamali, M Gilardi, Abhay U. Andar, et al. Establishment of tumor-on-chip system to study the role of tumor microenvironment on cancer progression in a patient-specific manner Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (2023), 11 (Suppl 1).
- T Light - Abhay U. Andar, et al. A Novel TumorGraft3D immune co-culture platform for high throughput immune-oncology screening; Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (2023) 11 (Suppl 1)
- GD Kaprou, A Andar, et al. Novel design for a microfluidic-based platform for yeast replicative lifespan (RLS) analysis Micro and Nano Engineering (2023), 19, 100199
- R Roche, NH Odeh, Abhay U. Andar , et al, Protection against Severe Illness versus Immunity—Redefining Vaccine Effectiveness in the Aftermath of COVID-19 Microorganisms , (2023) 11 (8), 1963.
- Vaishnavi Sambandam - Abhay U. Andar, et al. Ex vivomodeling of multiple myeloma: A novel drug sensitivity screening platform; Cancer Research, (2023), Vol 3, Suppl 7
- LT Croucher, G Rao, X Ge, Abhay U. Andar, et al US Patent App. 17/999,437; An apparatus comprising microfluidic protein-based sensors and methods of using same, (2023).
- MS Hasan, M Marsafari, M Tolosa, Abhay U. Andar et al, Rapid Ultrasensitive and High-Throughput Bioburden Detection: Microfluidics and Instrumentation Analytical Chemistry (2022) 94 (24), 8683-8692
- MS Hasan, S Borhani, SS Ramamurthy, A Andar, et al Microwave induced thermally assisted solvent-based bonding of biodegradable thermoplastics: an eco-friendly rapid approach for fabrication of microfluidic devices and analyte … Scientific Reports, (2022) 12 (1), 16075.
- Govind Rao, Abhay U. Andar, Yordan Kostov WO Patent WO2018226907A2 Factory-on-a-chip for production of biologically derived medicines/biopharmaceuticals/biologics/biotherapeutics. (2021)
- Abhay U. Andar et al. Wood Microfluidics; Analytical Chemistry , ( 2019), 91, 17, 11004–11012
- Abhay U. Andar et al., Low-cost customizable microscale toolkit for rapid screening and purification of therapeutic proteins, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, (2019) 116 (4), 870-881
- Rajani Adiga, Mustafa Al-Adhami, Abhay U. Andar, et al. Biological Medicines On Demand: A platform for therapeutic cGMP protein manufacturing at the point-of-care; Nature Biomedical Engineering , 2 (9), 675.
- Abhay U. Andar et al. Microneedle-Assisted Skin Permeation by Non-toxic Bioengineerable Gas Vesicle Nanoparticles, Molecular pharmaceutics ,14 (3), 953–958
- SJ Heine, J Diaz-McNair, Abhay U. Andar, et al Intradermal delivery of Shigella IpaB and IpaD type III secretion proteins: kinetics of cell recruitment and antigen uptake, mucosal and systemic immunity, and protection.; Journal of Immunology 192 (4), 1630-1640
- Abhay U. Andar, et al. Microfluidic preparation of liposomes to determine particle size influence on cellular uptake mechanisms, Pharmaceutical Research ,31, 410-413.
- Matthew J. Dalby, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Rahul Tare, Abhay U. Andar, et al. The control of human mesenchymal cell differentiation using nanoscale symmetry and disorder. Nature materials , 6, 997-1003
- Link to additional publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&hl=en&user=GuFA3IMAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate1002/btpr.2970