Ben Jussila
Springfield,OR
Summary
Technical Applications Scientist and R&D Scientist with 8+ years of life science experience spanning preclinical research, pre-sales scientific consulting, genome editing services, and cross-functional project leadership. Proven record supporting $3.6M+ in service sales across 650+ custom genome engineering and phenotyping projects for biotech, academic, government, and nonprofit partners. Deep expertise in zebrafish and C. elegans models, CRISPR workflows, disease modeling, and client-facing technical strategy for drug discovery and rare disease programs.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Technical Applications Scientist
InVivo Biosystems (formerly NemaMetrix)
Eugene, OR
04.2021 - 04.2026
- Led scientist-level pre-sales and post-sales technical consulting for custom zebrafish and C. elegans genome editing/phenotyping services.
- Supported $3.6M+ in service sales across 650+ unique projects in domestic and international academic/industry settings.
- Directed project feasibility assessments, experimental design recommendations, quote development, kickoff planning, and troubleshooting through project completion.
- Collaborated with academic, industry, government, nonprofit, and foundation partners on drug discovery, rare disease modeling, and anti-parasitics programs.
- Supported dozens of academic grant submissions through technical consultation and letters of support.
- Co-authored 3 client publications and 1 open-source methods publication; acknowledged across multiple additional client papers.
- Presented a 30-minute seminar on drug-repurposing screens for rare genetic diseases at TAGC, including patient foundation collaborations (Malan Syndrome Foundation, STXBP1 Foundation/Rare Smile Foundation/Rafa’s Moonshot).
- Applied bioinformatics and scientific databases in project design and interpretation, including Benchling, ApE, PubMed, BLAST, Ensembl, Alliance of Genome Resources, ExPASy, UCSC Genome Browser, and GenBank.
R&D Scientist
InVivo Biosystems (formerly NemaMetrix)
Eugene, OR
06.2018 - 04.2021
- Designed and executed experiments to generate custom gene-edited zebrafish lines for academic and industry customers.
- Provided technical consulting that contributed to surpassing 2020 zebrafish sales goals.
- Helped scale early zebrafish operations into a high-revenue service division.
- Managed experimental planning, partner coordination, and data curation for a $1.5M SBIR grant, culminating in a patent submission.
- Contributed primary literature review, writing, and editing support for zebrafish-focused grant applications.
- Partnered with marketing and business development on technical messaging, sales enablement, blog content, and new service design.
- Represented the company at scientific conferences for networking and data presentation.
Laboratory Technician/Manager & Graduate Research Assistant
University of Utah, Department of Human Genetics (Lab of Dr. Kristen M. Kwan)
Salt Lake City, UT
01.2015 - 01.2018
- Managed laboratory operations, ordering, vendor communications, and inventory for reagents/equipment.
- Conducted zebrafish developmental biology experiments focused on Hedgehog signaling, primary cilia, and extracellular matrix pathways in early eye development.
- Presented research progress and future directions at departmental meetings and functions.
- Participated in weekly project strategy, troubleshooting, and data review discussions.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
University of Minnesota, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development (Lab of Dr. R. Scott McIvor)
Minneapolis, MN
01.2011 - 01.2014
- Investigated intercellular transfer of liver-expressed microRNAs into hepatic metastases of human colorectal cancer (murine model).
- Supported molecular and in vivo studies evaluating transposition, microRNA transfer and anti-tumor activity in murine colorectal carcinoma models.
Education
Certificate - Ethical and Social Challenges of Genomic and Precision Medicine
University of California, San Francisco / Coursera
Online04-2018
Biosciences Ph.D. Program - Human Genetics
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT01-2016
B.S. - Genetics, Cell Biology and Development
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN01-2014
Skills
- Zebrafish husbandry, embryo microinjections, live imaging, antibody staining & in situ hybridization, behavioral & morphological phenotyping
- CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis and genome editing workflow design (zebrafish & C elegans, other non-C elegans nematode species)
- Molecular cloning, oligonucleotide design, PCR, restriction digest, gel electrophoresis, plasmid prep, DNA/RNA extraction and purification
- DNA sequencing, Sanger sequence analysis, high-resolution melt analysis (HRMA), web-based bioinformatic analysis
- Whole-mount and histological in situ hybridization & antibody staining
- Mammalian cell culture, stem cell culture & differentiation, flow cytometry, cryopreservation
- Confocal microscopy (live and fixed tissue contexts)
- Drosophila husbandry; mouse husbandry and tissue collection, genotyping; C elegans husbandry
- ImageJ, FlowJo, FluoRender, Sequencher
- Benchling, BLAST, PubMed/NCBI, Ensembl, UCSC Genome Browser, GenBank, ApE, Primer3Plus
- Asana, HubSpot, MS Office
Timeline
Technical Applications Scientist
InVivo Biosystems (formerly NemaMetrix)
04.2021 - 04.2026
R&D Scientist
InVivo Biosystems (formerly NemaMetrix)
06.2018 - 04.2021
Laboratory Technician/Manager & Graduate Research Assistant
University of Utah, Department of Human Genetics (Lab of Dr. Kristen M. Kwan)
01.2015 - 01.2018
Undergraduate Research Assistant
University of Minnesota, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development (Lab of Dr. R. Scott McIvor)
01.2011 - 01.2014
Certificate - Ethical and Social Challenges of Genomic and Precision Medicine
University of California, San Francisco / Coursera
Biosciences Ph.D. Program - Human Genetics
University of Utah
B.S. - Genetics, Cell Biology and Development
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Lockery SR, Pop S, Jussila B. (2023). Microinjection in C. elegans by direct penetration of elastomeric membranes. Biomicrofluidics, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0130806
- Islam NN, Coban MA, Fuller JM, Weber C, Chitale R, Jussila B, et al. (2025). DynamiCasome—A molecular dynamics-guided and AI-driven pathogenicity prediction catalogue for all genetic mutations. Communications Biology, 8(1), 958. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08334-y
- Mondal M, Scifo E, Ciliberti RE, Wischhof L, Abbariki TN, Jackson J, Jussila B, et al. (2025). Dietary lipid content modifies wah-1/AIFM1-associated phenotypes via LRK-1 and DRP-1 expression in C. elegans. Nature Communications, 16(1), 10817. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66900-8
- Niedworok P, Ciliberti RE, Xie B, Mathew AJ, Jussila B, et al. (2026). BCL-11 enables adaptive stress responses to environmental challenges. iScience, 29(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114422
SELECTED IMPACT METRICS
- $3.6M+ supported sales in technical service programs (2021-2026)
- 650+ client projects supported across genome editing and phenotyping
- $1.5M SBIR grant work coordinated to patent submission milestone
- 4 co-authored publications (2023–2026)