Postdoctoral fellow

Posted on: 2006-07-26

CURRICULUM VITAE KARINA SOARES, Ph.D. CONTACT INFORMATION Division of Hematology/Oncology Department of Medicine 2.19 Hillman Cancer Center University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center 5117 Center Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Phone: (972) 375-5630 Fax: (412) 623-7768 E-mail: [email protected] PERMANENT RESIDENT / GREEN CARD HOLDER. SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS Creative, goal-oriented professional looking to extend her wide range of skills into drug discovery Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines Strong work ethic combined with a commitment to excellence Team player who works effectively with senior management, colleagues and administrative staff Excellent communication and presentation skills Experience with training and supervising technical personnel Excellent computer skills Evaluation of various parameters in designing complex studies Personal attributes such as integrity, enthusiasm, initiative, creativity and ability to learn quickly EDUCATION Ph.D. in Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1997. Thesis Advisor: Dr. Joseph C. Glorioso, Professor and Chairman, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Pittsburgh, PA. Master of Science in Microbiology, First Class, Bombay University, 1989. Thesis Advisor: Dr. M. A. Khatkhatay, Professor and Head of the Microbiology Department, Sophia College, Bombay University, Bombay, India. Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, First Class, Bombay University, 1987. Department of Microbiology, Sophia College, Bombay University, Bombay, India. APPOINTMENTS 2005-Present: Post-doctoral Fellow. Mentor: Dr. Daniel E. Johnson, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Department of Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 2002-2003: Conducted preclinical studies for the University of Pittsburgh-associated start-up gene therapy company Nurel Therapeutics Inc. (www.Nureltx.com). 1997-2002: Post-doctoral Fellow, Post-doctoral Research Associate. Mentor: Dr. Joseph C. Glorioso, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. RESEARCH EXPERIENCE AND INTERESTS My research interests have always been directed at developing new therapies. I joined Dr. Joseph Glorioso\'s laboratory for my PhD to develop viral vectors that could be used for gene therapy of brain tumors, neurological disorders and pain, as well as for systemic delivery of therapeutic gene products through peripheral sensory nerve endings. My specific contribution was the identification of basal and neuronal-specific transcription elements that allowed the singular viral latency-associated promoter to be active despite the generalized silencing of all other cellular or viral promoters introduced into the viral vector. By multimerizing or improving the sequence homology with these neuronal-specific elements, it would be possible to boost the level of gene expression to achieve both sustained and significant levels of therapeutic gene expression. Following graduation and a postdoctoral fellowship, I was involved in preclinical studies with the innovative viral vectors we had developed. Specifically, my work contributed to the Investigational New Drug (IND) application granted by the FDA for the use of multi-gene recombinant herpes virus vectors for multi-modal treatment of brain tumors in 2003. In December 2005, Nurel Therapeutics Inc. merged with Diamyd Medical AB (www.diamyd.com) to move the viral vectors into clinical trials. When Nurel Therapeutics Inc. scaled back operations due to lack of funding, I decided to pursue my interest in the fundamentals of cancer biology by studying apoptosis as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Johnson at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Having gained a good understanding of tumor biology, I am eager to extend my wide ranging skills in cell and molecular biology to the discovery of new drugs for disease targets. TECHNICAL SKILLS Recombinant DNA technology: Cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, transfection of eukaryotic cell lines, DNA sequencing, northern blots, Southern blots, slot blots, DNA PCR and RT-PCR, yeast one-hybrid technology. Cell culture: Monolayers of Vero, CV-1, NIH3T3, neuronal cell lines (B103, PC12, Neuro2A, IMR- 32) and murine stem cells, suspension cultures of U937, Jurkat, JB-6 cells, large scale growth of HeLa S3 cells in stirrer flasks, isolation and culture of primary sensory neurons from rat embryos. In vitro assays: Transient expression studies using chloramphenicol acetyl transferase, beta- galactosidase and luciferase assays, in vitro transcription-primer extension assays, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, DNAse I footprinting, cell-free cytochrome C release assays, Western blots. Proteins: Preparation of transcriptionally active HeLa nuclear extracts, subcellular fractionation. Virology: Generation of site-directed mutant, deletion and recombinant herpes viruses and their rescuants, plaque assays, preparation of viral stocks. Animal studies: Corneal scarification, dissection of mice, stereotactic injection of rat brain, experience working with pathogens and microbes in a BSL3 facility. Microbiology: Isolation of microorganisms from natural habitats, taxonomy, substrate utilization agar plate assays, enzyme kinetic studies, industrial application. Computer skills: Familiarity with Oligo4.0, Genbank sequence searches and alignments using BLAST, Transfac database searching, DNA strider, PubMed, Medline, Medscape, OVID, ImageQuant optical quantitation program for measuring optical density of autoradiographic scans. CONTINUOUS LEARNING/ADDITIONAL TRAINING: Attended training workshop in conducting clinical trials at American Society of Gene Therapy meeting, Boston. I have developed an understanding of the process of translating basic research into marketable therapies by reading FDA articles \'From test tube to patient: Improving health through human drugs\', \'Innovation Stagnation: Challenge and Opportunity on the Critical Path to New Medical Products\'; The Process of New Drug Discovery and Development (1992) C. G. Smith; Biotechnology and Biopharmceuticals: Transforming proteins and genes into drugs (2003) R. J. Y. Ho and M. Gibaldi; Building Global Biobrands: Taking Biotechnology through Market (2003) F. Simon and P. Kotler. PUBLICATIONS Soares, K., D-Y. Hwang, R. Ramakrishnan, M. C. Schmidt, D. J. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. Cis-acting elements involved in transcriptional regulation of the herpes simplex virus type 1 latency-associated promoter 1 (LAP1) in vitro and in vivo. 1996. Journal of Virology 70:5384-5394. Soares, M. K., W. H. Goins, J. C. Glorioso and D. J. Fink. Gene transfer to the nervous system using HSV vectors. 1998. In Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology. Boulikas T. (Ed.), Lychnia Press, Athens, Greece Vol 1. pp. 215-229. Laquerre, S., W. F. Goins, S. Moriuchi, T. J. Oligino, D. M. Krisky, P. Marconi, M. K. Soares, J. B. Cohen, D. J. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. Gene transfer tool: Herpes simplex virus vectors. 1999. In The Development of Human Gene Therapy. Friedman T. (Ed.). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory press, pp 1-35. Soares, M. K., W. F. Goins, J. C. Glorioso, and D. J. Fink. Advances in engineering HSV vectors for gene transfer to the nervous system. 1999. In Gene Therapy Technologies and Regulations: From Laboratory to Clinic. Meager A. (Ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Gene Therapy Technologies, pp 127-163. Niranjan*, A., D. Wolfe*, M. Tamura, M. K. Soares, D. M. Krisky, L. D. Lunsford, S. Li, W. Fellows-Mayle, N. A. DeLuca, J. B. Cohen, and J. C. Glorioso. Treatment of rat gliosarcoma brain tumors by HSV-based multi-gene therapy combined with radiosurgery. 2003. Molecular Therapy 8: 530-542. (* co-first authors) Soares, K., M. R. Alvira, D. J. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. Investigation into the neuronal-specificity of the latency-associated promoter of herpes simplex virus type 1. Manuscript in preparation. SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS Niranjan, A., D. P. Wolfe, M. Tamura, M. K. Soares, D. Krisky, D. L. Lunsford, D. Kondziolka, W. Fellows, N. DeLuca, J. Cohen, and J. C. Glorioso. Enhanced HSV-based suicide gene therapy for rat gliosarcoma brain tumors by co-delivery of TNFa, HSV TK, and connexin 43 in combination with ganciclovir and gamma knife radiosurgery. Molecular Therapy 7(5):S281. Abstract #728, American Society of Gene Therapy meeting, Washington D.C. 2003. D. P. Wolfe, A. Niranjan, M. Tamura, D. Krisky, M. K. Soares, L. D. Lunsford, D. Kondziolka, W. Fellows, N. DeLuca, and J. C. Glorioso. Multimodal gene therapy for glioma; gamma knife radiosurgery, intratumoral co-expression of connexin43, human TNFa, and HSV tk suicide gene therapy in 9L gliosarcoma bearing rats. University of Pittsburgh Annual Dean\'s Science Fair, 2002. D. P. Wolfe, A. Niranjan, M. Tamura, D. Krisky, M. K. Soares, L. D. Lunsford, D. Kondziolka, W. Fellows, N. DeLuca, and J. C. Glorioso. Multimodal gene therapy for glioma; gamma knife radiosurgery, intratumoral co-expression of connexin43, human TNFa, and HSV tk suicide gene therapy in 9L gliosarcoma bearing rats. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry Annual Scientific Retreat, 2002. S. Huang, W. F Goins, D. P. Wolfe, M. K. Soares, D. J. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. High-level, long-term transgene expression from chimeric LAP-HCMV promoters in neuronal cells. 25th International Herpesvirus Workshop, Portland, OR. 2000. S. Huang, W. F. Goins, D. Wolfe, K. Soares, D. J. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. Chimeric LAP-HCMV promoters support high-level, long-term transgene expression in neuronal cells in vitro. American Society of Gene Therapy meeting, Denver CO. 2000. K. Soares and J. C. Glorioso. Cis-Acting Elements involved in transcriptional regulation of the herpes simplex virus type-1 latency-associated promoter 1 (LAP1). 21st International Herpesvirus Workshop, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL. 1996. K. Soares, D-Y Hwang, R. Ramakrishnan, M. C. Schmidt, D. J. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. Cis-acting elements involved in transcriptional regulation of the herpes simplex virus type-1 latency-associated promoter 1 (LAP1). TIGR Science Foundation Inc., Genomic science series, Conference on Gene therapy. Hilton Head, South Carolina. 1996. K. Soares, D-Y. Hwang, D. J. Fink, M. C. Schmidt and J. C. Glorioso. Transcriptional regulation of the latency associated promoter(LAP1) of herpes simplex virus type-1. UNESCO-Sponsored Conference on Gene Therapy. New Delhi, India. 1995. M. K. Soares, D-Y. Hwang, D. J. Fink, M. C. Schmidt and J. C. Glorioso. Cis-trans interactions involved in transcriptional regulation of the latency active promoter (LAP1) of HSV-1. The 19th International Herpesvirus Workshop, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 1994. M. A. Bender, P. Marconi, K. Soares, K. Vrana, S. Triezenberg, T. Sherman, M. Zigmond, D. Fink and J. C. Glorioso. HSV-1 gene transfer and expression of a functional transcriptional activation (Gal4:VP16) in the brain. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington D. C. 1994. D-Y. Hwang, S. W. French, M. K. Soares and J. C. Glorioso. Identification of cis-acting elements within the TATA-box containing latency active promoter of herpes simplex virus type-1. XV111 International Herpesvirus Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA. 1993. ACADEMIC HONORS Best Teaching Assistant, Medical Microbiology laboratory, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1991. The Bombay Port Trust Educational Scholarship 1982-1987, 1987-1989. Bombay Port Trust Merit Prizes 1982, 1987, 1989. Aldona Association Merit Prizes 1982, 1987, 1989. TEACHING EXPERIENCE Teaching Assistant, Medical Microbiology Laboratory for medical students, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 1992-1994. Student facilitator, Problem Based Learning sessions for medical students, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. REFERENCES Joseph C. Glorioso, Ph.D. Professor and Chairman, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. Phone: (412) 648-8105. E- mail: [email protected] Neal A. Deluca, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. Phone: (412) 648-8770. E-mail: [email protected] Saleem A. Khan, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. Phone: (412) 648-9025. E-mail: [email protected] Daniel E. Johnson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Phone: (412) 623-3245. E-mail: [email protected]