Current

• Computational Biologist at Covance Biomarker Center Of Excellence
• Editor at Medpedia, Inc.
• Founder and CEO at Highlight HEALTH

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Past

• Research Associate in Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center
• Biomedical Informatics Research Fellow at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Education

• Texas A&M University
• Purdue University Calumet

Recommendations

1 recommendation

Connections

249 connections

Industry

Pharmaceuticals

Summary

I have several years of academic and industrial experience in the areas of bioinformatics and computational biology, with a focus on the integration of disparate sets of data to provide a broader understanding of the signals and mechanisms regulating disease development and progression.

I am particularly interested in the etiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of neurological and oncological disease. I frequently present biological and statistical data to scientists, physicians and non-scientists, and am very comfortable communicating research and technology to others. I excel at translating research results into understandable language and formats.

My Ph.D. research was completed as a wet bench scientist and focused on the molecular mechanisms of nucleosome remodeling at the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PHO5 promoter, extending the use of bacterial DNA methyltransferases as in vivo probes of chromatin structure.

I am very interested in the use of internet technologies to enhance scientific collaboration, the development of a networked science culture, and the advancement of open source science.

Specialties:

Experience

• Computational Biologist

  Covance Biomarker Center Of Excellence

  (Public Company; CVD; Pharmaceuticals industry)

  April 2010 — Present (6 months)

  Designs, implements and applies cutting edge computational methods to analyze and integrate data from a wide variety of sources including clinical data, literature and high-throughput genomic or proteomic platforms. Works closely with scientists, clinicians, statisticians, and software engineers to support the discovery and application of biomarkers in the clinical setting.

• Editor

  Medpedia, Inc.

  (Privately Held; Health, Wellness and Fitness industry)

  May 2009 — Present (1 year 5 months)

  The Medpedia Project is a long-term, worldwide project to evolve a new model for sharing and advancing knowledge about health, medicine and the body among medical professionals and the general public. This model is founded on providing a free online technology platform that is collaborative, interdisciplinary and transparent.

• Founder and CEO

  Highlight HEALTH

  (Privately Held; Online Media industry)

  December 2006 — Present (3 years 10 months)

  Highlight HEALTH works to promote advances in biomedical research and advocates for health literacy to improve self-management in health.

  The Internet offers widespread access to health information. While much of the information is valuable, the Web also allows rapid and widespread dissemination of false and misleading information. Highlight HEALTH counters that with health information that’s credible and reliable.

  The organization concentrates on reporting biomedical research news for both the public and medical professionals. Highlight HEALTH reports on the research, provides background and analysis, and explains how the results affect you, the healthcare consumer.

  Walter Jessen, founder and creator of Highlight HEALTH, focuses on brand development, the web site UI, web site traffic growth and advertiser engagement. He also serves as editor and head writer.

• Research Associate in Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology

  Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center

  (Non-Profit; Hospital & Health Care industry)

  January 2008 — April 2010 (2 years 4 months)

  Responsible for developing data resources that will allow the use of a variety of statistical and biological analysis approaches to evaluate microarray data, as well as additional data related to variations in disease severity, histological patterns and proteomic data being collected from both mouse animal models of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), individual human neurofibromas and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Collaborates with other Principle Investigators of the Neurofibromatosis Microarray and Systems Biology Consortium (http://nf1.cchmc.org/) to develop bioinformatics analyses to understand the molecular mechanisms by which tumors form and progress with the ultimate goal of developing treatment strategies.

• Biomedical Informatics Research Fellow

  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

  (Non-Profit; Hospital & Health Care industry)

  September 2004 — December 2007 (3 years 4 months)

  Utilized transcriptional regulatory and gene interaction networks, cancer biology and embryonic and postnatal development in human and mouse models to inform and characterize biological states, disease processes and developmental disorders. Used functional and comparative genomics approaches, as well as the incorporation of histologic patterns and clinical information, to develop an integrative biology approach that could be applied to a range of genetic diseases.

  • Recipient, National Institutes of Health Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program (2005 – 2007).

  • NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute of Molecular Pharmacology and Biophysics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (2004 – 2007).

Education

• Texas A&M University

  Ph.D. , Molecular Biology, Biochemistry , 1998 — 2004

  Developed a kinetic approach for analysis of chromatin remodeling in vivo, demonstrating that nucleosomes proximal to the transactivator binding site are remodeled earlier than those more distal. Developed an in vivo single molecule assay that identifies multiple promoter classes and supports a probabilistic model in which chromatin remodeling at PHO5 spreads from sites of transactivator binding and attenuates with distance. Bioengineered inducible DNA methyltransferase systems for the in vivo detection of chromatin structural changes, targeted methylation and factor footprints.

  • Directed research projects for several rotating graduate students and was responsible for the primary training of a number of undergraduate students (1998 – 2004).

  • Teaching Assistant, Texas A&M University, Experimental Biochemistry Lab (2003).

  • Teaching Assistant, Texas A&M University, Biochemistry Laboratory I and II (1998 – 1999).

  Activities and Societies:

  Participated in the development of NIH R01 proposal “Regulation of gene expression in chromatin”, funded in 2003 (Kladde MP, Texas A&M University), 2001.

• Purdue University Calumet

  B.S. , Physics , 1992 — 1998

  Research project involved the design, construction and use of a nitrogen laser for the study of dielectric breakdown and spark generation. Presented "Dielectric Breakdown and Spark Generation" at the Eighth Annual Argonne Undergraduate Research Symposium, Argonne National Lab (1997).

  • Teaching Assistant, Purdue University Calumet, Introductory Physics (1998).

  • Physics and Math Tutor, Purdue University Calumet (1998).

  • I was employed full-time while attending classes and maintained a GPA of 3.4 (1992-1998).

  Activities and Societies:

  Society of Physics Students (President, 1998), “Best and Brightest” award (Department of Chemistry and Physics, 1998), Nominated to Sigma Xi (1998)

Additional Information

Groups:

•    LinkedSEO
•    Lifesciences Opportunities in US
•    Biotech & Pharma Professionals Network
•    Bioinformatics geeks
•    Health 2.0
•    "friendfeed" friends
•    Life Science Professionals
•    Bioinformatics Computing
•    9rules
•    Biotech Marketing Group
•    Indianapolis Life Sciences
•    Health 3.0: The Next Online Generation
•    The Biogang
•    STweM
•    FriendFeed Life Scientists
•    ISCB - International Society for Computational Biology
•    Oncology Pharma™
•    Medpedia
•    LiMS forum, the professional network for LIMS, Laboratory, Scientific & Health Informatics
•    Personalized Cancer Medicine - Oncology Pharma™
•    HealthForge - the Open Access Health Informatics Community
•    FriendFeed Science

Honors: