Scientific Experience
Molecular Biology for Biomanufacturing
A half-semester course focused on development of bacterial cell lines for production of the recombinant small chain antibody fragment, scFv13R4. Techniques such as restriction digestion, plasmid purification, SDS-PAGE, and western blot were used during laboratory sessions.
Cell Line Development for Biomanufacturing
A half-semester course focused on establishing a stable Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO) cell line in the industrially relevant strain, DG44 (DHFR). Laboratory sessions focused on use of aseptic technique, manual and automatic cell counting, transfection, and microscopy.
Biological Processing Science
An eight-week course focused on fundamental scientific principles underlying the recovery, purification and formulation of biologics/biotherapeutics, especially proteins. Emphasis is placed on delineating the key chemical and physical properties of biomolecules that impact downstream processing and formulation development - especially molecular-level concepts and quantitative modeling approaches. Laboratories in the analytical and small-scale purification facility provide students with 'hands-on' exposure to key scientific principles and small scale unit operations.
Global Regulatory Affairs for Medical Products
This course provides an introduction to the quality systems used to meet the regulatory requirements for developing, testing, manufacturing, and selling medical products in the global marketplace. Assignments use references from regulatory agencies and published case studies to explore quality compliance issues related to regulations published by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other international Boards of Health. Additionally, students conduct a one-time facility audit and create an audit report based on their results.
Biomanufacturing Seminar Series (BEC 601)
Weekly seminars on topics of current interest in biomanufacturing and affiliated subjects. Seminars are presented by resident faculty members, graduate students and visiting lecturers from industry, government regulatory agencies (i.e. FDA), or from academic programs related to biomanufacturing.
Industry Case Studies in Microbiology
This is a project-based course in which student teams work directly with industry partners on projects ranging from gap market analyses to evaluation of commercial viability of new technologies. Emphasis is placed on team collaboration, improvement of public speaking skills, and producing project deliverables such as executive summaries.
Other Relevant Coursework
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
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Cellular Biology and Development
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Principles of Biochemistry
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General Microbiology
Undergraduate Research Experience
University of North Carolina Neuroscience Center
Lab of Glenn Matsushima
Advanced understanding of demyelinating disease pathways by investigating immune cell response following central nervous system perturbation. Cultured Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO) cells for downstream experiments, conducted immunocytochemistry assays, and performed gel electrophoresis.
Publications
Shenkar R, Shi C, Austin C, Moore T, Lightle R, Cao Y, Zhang L, Wu M, Zeineddine HA, Girard R, McDonald DA, Rorrer A, Gallione C, Pytel P, Liao JK, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. 2017. RhoA Kinase Inhibition with Fasudil Versus Simvastatin in Murine Models of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations. Stroke. 48(1):187-194. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.015013.
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Girard R, Zeineddine HA, Orsbon C, Tan H, Moore T, Hobson N, Shenkar R, Lightle R, Shi C, Fam MD, Cao Y, Shen L, Neander AI, Rorrer A, Gallione C, Tang AT, Kahn ML, Marchuk DA, Luo ZX, Awad IA. 2016. Micro-computed Tomography in Murine Models of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations as a Paradigm for Brain Disease. J. Neurosci. Methods. 271:14-24. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2016.06.021.
Shi C, Shenkar R, Zeineddine HA, Girard R, Fam MD, Austin C, Moore T, Lightle R, Zhang L, Wu M, Cao Y, Gunel M, Louvi A, Rorrer A, Gallione C, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. 2016. B-Cell Depletion Reduces the Maturation of Cerebral Cavernous Malformation in Murine Models. J. Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 11(2):369-377. doi: 10.1007/s11481-016-9670-0.
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Shenkar R, Shi C, Rebeiz T, Stockton RA, McDonald DA, Mikati AG, Zhang L, Austin C, Akers AL, Gallione CJ, Rorrer A, Gunel M, Min W, De Souza JM, Lee C, Marchuk DA, Awad IA. 2015. Exceptional Aggressiveness of Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Disease Associated with PDCD10 Mutations. Genet. Med. 17(3):188-196. doi: 10.1038/gim.2014.97.
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