Brayden Curry

I am a Biochemistry graduate who has worked in a Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology lab for two years. I am seeking experience working in a professional laboratory setting with the goal of attending graduate school as a means to further my career.

I have experience in research within a BSL-2 laboratory with a focus on antibiotic drug discovery. Working for our lab’s principal investigator to help manage a team of hundreds of students and dozens of TAs to provide valuable data on new candidates for antibiotic compounds using analysis of bacterial growth.

I began as a student performing research with our model organism, Salmonella Typhimurium, and screening compounds provided to the lab by the National Cancer Institute. As well as designing and performing my own research on the antibiotic effects of Betulin. My principal investigator, Dr. Cheryl Pinzone, recognized my efforts and hired me onto the research team as a teaching assistant and later to the position of lab manager responsible for the safe operation of two BSL-2 laboratories with around 360 student researchers aiding in the screening of over 1500 compounds over the course of my time as lab manager.

• General Biosafety Training for Working with BSL-2 Agents - Recertified through BioRaft in September, 2025 at CU Boulder
• Biosafety Emergency Response Training - Recertified through BioRAFT in September, 2025 at CU Boulder.
• Autoclave Use Training - Recertified through BioRAFT in September, 2025 at CU Boulder.

• Project Title: Gene Expression, Protein Purification, and Identification
• Research Advisor: Kristen Roy, PhD
• Dates: 2024, 120 wet lab hours
• Brief Summary: Using a series of increasing specificity chromatography columns, Lactate Dehydrogenase was purified from a whole bovine heart. We further quantified the LDH using spectrophotometric enzyme activity assays and characterized purity using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western Blotting. In another experimental module, we used recombinant protein expression to express an unknown Red Fluorescent Protein. The protein was subsequently purified by His-tag affinity chromatography, then identified using both absorbance and fluorescence spectrophotometry.

• Project Title: Antibiotic Properties and Effects of Betulin Against Salmonella Typhimurium
• Research Advisor: Pamela Harvey, PhD
• Dates: August - December 2022
• Brief Summary: Using Salmonella Typhimurium as a model organism, we tested the antibiotic effects of Betulin. A dose response curve was generated and the ED50 was 1.7mM. Results indicated the compound was bactericidal.

• Project Title: Improving Student Data Analysis, Efficiency, and Data Organization in MCDB 1171
• Research Advisor: Cheryl Pinzone, PhD
• Dates: August 2023 - May 2025
• Brief Summary: I implemented an intervention of my own creation to improve research outcomes by simplifying and streamlining data input and organization techniques for our compound screening data. The improved methods decreased student researcher input errors and allowed our lab to increase the accuracy of data provided to the National Cancer Institute which was how our lab secured funding to continue operations.