Kristen Miller

• Conducted routine and specialized diagnostic testing in a high-volume hospital lab to deliver precise results for healthcare providers enhancing patient diagnosis and treatment plans.
• Proficient in Hematology, Clinical Chemistry, Urinalysis, Immunoassays, and Coagulation testing.
• Operated and maintained automated instrument platforms (Roche Cobas, Sysmex XN series, Sysmex Cellavision, Diasorin LIASON, Stago STA RMAX, Cepheid GeneXpert)
• Validated new assays and instrumentation.
• Performed quality assurance protocols that enhanced testing reliability and compliance with CAP and CLIA standards.
• EH&S Lab safety officer: Enhanced laboratory safety protocols, minimizing risks and providing detailed training sessions for staff. Ensured compliance with OSHA and EHS regulations.
• Trained new staff members, providing training on laboratory techniques and best practices for efficient workflow.

Manager: Daniel Kome

• Manual and automated methods for the detection and identification of microorganisms (Bruker MALDI-TOF, Versa Trek, Abbot Alinity M analyzer , BioFire Film array)
• Culture evaluation (urine, blood, wound, body fluids)
• Antibiotic susceptibility testing (Trek Aris Sensititre, Kirby-Bauer disc for weekly QC)
• Microscopic examination of specimens

• Studied HIV-host viral evolution, HIV latency and Reservoirs of Infection.
• Performed real-time PCR to detect and quantitate HIV viral load in CD4+ T cells from patients on ART therapy protocols
• Interrogated HIV genome of this latent HIV-1 reservoir to assess HIV pro-viral species diversity.
• Investigated the HIV-1 mediated insertional activation of BACH2 and STAT5B locus in memory T cells from different HIV cohorts.
• Expansion of virus isolates in culture from patient CD4+ T cells

Principal Investigator : James Mullins, PhD

• Studied how Arabidopsis Thaliana coordinates the proliferation and differentiation of stomatal cells during leaf morphogenesis.
• Carried out Induction experiments on transgenic Arabidopsis lines designed to overexpress plant Master Regulatory Transcription Factors: SPCH, MUTE, FAMA in presence of Estradiol hormone.
• Extracted RNA, made cDNA and performed Taqman qPCR validating transcript levels in genes identified by RNA sequencing as potential downstream targets of SPCH, MUTE, FAMA.

Prinicipal Investigator : Keiko Torii, PhD

• Studied the prevalence and clinical outcome correlation of a panel of oncogenic mutations across several Pediatric AML drug study cohorts.
• Screened AML patient study repository to identify known and novel genetic mutations. Designed PCR primers/probes for target amplification. Genotyped using Genemapper and Sanger Sequencing methods.
• Performed Taqman qPCR experiments to evaluate patient mRNA expression levels.
• Extracted proteins and performed Western blots to examine downstream signal pathways.
• Maintained specimen reference bank

Principal Investigator: Soheil Meshinchi, MD, PhD