Summary
- Over a decade of medical science liaison experience with a portfolio of new and established medicines
- Six years of biomedical bench research with broad expertise in infection, inflammation, and immunology
- Three years working as an EMT delivering hands-on patient care and liaising with healthcare providers
- Co-author of five peer-reviewed articles exploring the quantitative biochemistry of disease processes
- Award-winning public speaker with a superior ability to make complex data accessible and exciting
Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering | Cambridge, MA (2014)
Ph.D. in Biological Engineering (Immunology)
- Minor in Global Health from MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Medical School
- Doctoral Thesis: Modified Nucleic Acids in Bacterial Pathogens – Impact on Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Therapy
University of Mississippi, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College | Oxford, MS (2008)
B.S. in Chemistry, Magna Cum Laude, Barksdale Honors Scholar
- Honors Thesis: DNA Damage and Cytotoxicity in Human Colon Cells Exposed to Toxic Doses of Nitric Oxide
Work History
GSK | Houston, TX (07/2014 – Present)
Senior Medical Science Liaison, Respiratory Portfolio (04/2021 – Present)
Medical Science Liaison, Respiratory Portfolio (07/2014 – 04/2021)
- Responsible for all medical affairs engagements for asthma and COPD medicines in south Texas
- Identify, engage, and build rapport with experts to understand respiratory therapeutic landscape
- Serve as immunology subject matter expert for disease state and therapeutic mechanism training
MIT Biological Engineering Laboratory of Peter C. Dedon | Cambridge, MA (09/2008 – 07/2014)
Graduate Research Fellow
- Discovered and characterized a novel possible mechanism of transferrable, DNA modification-mediated antibiotic resistance (published in Nature Chemical Biology)
- Discovered novel tRNA-mediated stress responses by applying LC-MS/MS methods to generate quantitative systems biology data (published in Science Advances and The Journal of Immunology)
- Developed new LC-MS/MS methods to identify and quantify all modified nucleic acids in any organism for stress response, biomarker, and inflammation studies (published in Nature Protocols)
- Developed and characterized the immunology of a novel animal model of Mycobacterium bovis BCG lung infection for pre-clinical studies of tubercular granulomas
MIT Emergency Medical Services | Cambridge, MA (04/2009 – 04/2012)
Emergency Medical Technician
- Served 2 years as a Crew Chief, directing teams of 3 EMTs and making final patient care decisions
- Worked 1,800+ clinical hours on-call as an EMT-B, treating and transporting 150+ patients over 3 years
Director of Operations (04/2010 – 04/2011)
- Managed a team of 50+ EMTs and oversaw equipment stocking and maintenance, patient care quality assurance, and regulatory compliance
- Liaised with EMS leaders to facilitate integration of MIT's ambulance into the city 911 system, yielding a 7% increase in call volume
- Created routine maintenance and incident tracking programs that reduced ambulance downtime 25%
- Coordinated and led campus-wide medical coverage for 3 large public events, each with 2,000+ visitors
Publications
- Candiracci J, Migeot V, Chionh YH, Bauer F, Brochier T, Russell BS, Shiozaki K, Dedon PC, Hermand D (2019) Reciprocal Regulation of TORC Signaling and tRNA Modifications by Elongator Enforces Nutrient-Dependent Cell Fate. Science Advances 5(6).
- Keegan C, Krutzik S, Schenk M, Scumpia PO, Lu J, Pang YLJ, Russell BS, Lim KS, Shell S, Prestwich E, Su D, Elashoff D, Hershberg RM, Bloom BR, Belisle JT, Fortune S, Dedon PC, Pellegrini M, Modlin RL (2018) Mycobacterium tuberculosis Transfer RNA Induces IL-12p70 via Synergistic Activation of Pattern Recognition Receptors within a Cell Network. The Journal of Immunology 200(9): 3244-3258.
- Kellner S, DeMott MS, Cheng CP, Russell BS, Cao B, You D, Dedon PC (2017) Oxidation of Phosphorothioate DNA Modifications Leads to Lethal Genomic Instability. Nature Chemical Biology 13(8): 888-894.
- Su D, Chan CTY, Gu C, Lim KS, Chionh YH, McBee ME, Russell BS, Babu IR, Begley TJ, Dedon PC (2014) Quantitative Analysis of Ribonucleoside Modifications in tRNA by HPLC-Coupled Mass Spectrometry. Nature Protocols 9(4): 828-841.
- Dendroulakis V, Russell BS, Elmquist CE, Trudel LJ, Wogan GN, Deen WM, Dedon PC (2012) A System for Exposing Molecules and Cells to Biologically Relevant and Accurately Controlled Steady-State Concentrations of Nitric Oxide and Oxygen. Nitric Oxide 27(3): 161-168.
Healthcare Experience
MIT Medical Consumers Advisory Council | Cambridge, MA (09/2013 – 08/2014)
Graduate Student Representative
- Appointed to represent a population of 4,000+ graduate students to the MIT Medical Management Board
- Solicited student input, communicated criticisms, and suggested quality improvements to medical services
- Created a communication channel between Graduate Student Council and medical leadership of MIT’s clinic
ClearView Healthcare Partners | Newton, MA (08/2013)
Connect-to-ClearView Summer Intern
- Chosen as one of 11 out of 150 Ph.D. candidates for an intensive life science and pharma consulting program
- Worked in a team of 4 to perform market sizing, uptake modeling, and revenue prediction for a novel drug
Teaching Experience
MIT Department of Biological Engineering | Cambridge, MA (09/2013 – 12/2013)
Teaching Assistant for Fundamentals of Drug Development
- Worked with local biotech and pharma thought leaders to plan guest lectures and evaluate case studies
- Designed and led weekly recitation sessions, and created and graded regular assignments for 30 students
- Mentored students and served as a writing coach for final projects on drug development case studies
MIT Department of Biological Engineering | Cambridge, MA (09/2010 – 12/2011)
Teaching Assistant for Analysis of Biological Networks
- Conceived, wrote, and graded case-based homework problems and exam questions for 25 Ph.D. students
- Designed and presented exam preparation sessions and in-class lectures on landmark publications
- Rated best of the 3 instructors for presentation quality by students in course evaluations 2 years in a row
Skills & Expertise
- Technical: animal models, antibiotic resistance, bacterial pathogenesis, biomarkers, diagnostics, global health, infectious disease, inflammation, immunology, metabolomics, next-gen sequencing, PK/PD and ADME-Tox
- Clinical: asthma, COPD, ACO, CRSwNP, EGPA, HES, GINA, GOLD, NHLBI EPR4, RSV, spirometry
- Laboratory: cell culture, chromatography (HPLC, LC-MS/MS), flow cytometry, mass spectrometry (QTOF, QQQ, MALDI)
- Computer: GraphPad Prism, LaTeX, MassHunter, Mathematica, MATLAB, MS Office, Sharepoint, (X)HTML and CSS
Honors & Awards
- GSK Field Medical Excellence Award – 2023
- GSK Ahead Together Award (formerly IPTc Award) x4 – 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
- AAAS/Science Program for Excellence in Science – 2014
- Siebel Scholars Award – 2013 to 2014
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Training Grant – 2011 to 2014
- MIT Sloan Sales Club Bold Sell Competition Winner – 2011
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship – 2009 to 2011
- Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship – 2007 to 2008
- Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies, Junior Year Inductee – 2007
- University of Mississippi Carrier Foundation Scholarship – 2004 to 2008
- National Merit Scholarship Finalist – 2004
- Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 911 in Brookhaven, MS – 2003