Structuralbioguy

No response on my last post so I’ll go again... Undergrad Institution: University of Missouri - R1 AAU Graduate Institution: University of Southern California - R1 AAU Major(s): U - Biochemistry G - Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine Minor(s): U - Biology GPA in Major: N/A Overall GPA: uGPA 3.46 - gGPA 3.77 Position in Class: as per recommenders/mentors u - top 10% g - top 15% Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority? - Domestic / m / LD minority GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 161 (78%) V: 161 (88%) W: 5.0 (93%) B: did horribly on the last biochemistry one they offered, cannot retake (28%) only USC has the score. Will not send to others. TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) 3 pubs (2nd/5, 2nd/6, 3rd/6 from grad) earliest - most recent 1. 3.5 yrs in a large well known plant biochemistry lab at MU. Plant/symbiome project & irradiated plans development project. 2. 2-3yrs in analytical/biophysical lab. 2 pubs (2nd author), Binding, stability and structural studies yielded exciting results. 3. Graduate - site directed mutagenesis study of TM peptides and their lipid interactions. This uses ITC and Liquid state NMR, developed mutant peptide population from plasmid to peptide in sample. 3rd pub (3rd author/6) 4. Graduate (thesis) - I sought to develop a more physiologically and contextually relevant sample platform for membrane anchoring structural studies in liquid-state NMR. As my thesis committee mentioned this actually is 2 projects rolled into one in just over a year. Developed viable Nanodiscs for study, developed and successfully captured target peptide in the ND for structural study. 5. Professional / Industry (<6 months, ~1.5yr at time of enrollment into intended PhD program in 2018). I work for a wonderful company (top-5 in Biotech in world), this is like google, lots of younger driven researchers. I really would like to stay here however I was advised to seek a PhD by my previous mentors, and I always wanted to ask/address and answer larger scientific questions. I develop proteins and purification methods for academic, government and industry research. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) I train newcomers in our Biotech company on routine methods/techniques. I was a TA at MU for 7 semesters - newcoming/struggling science majors in record-enrollment years at MU. I led class discussion, developed lessons/activities. Provided support and advise for more rigorous STEM courses. 15-35 students/semester. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) LD student a minority? Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My grandfather passed away one late undergraduate semester, one course I was taking did not allow me to relschedule a midterm. I sat early for it so I could goto his funeral, I got a C in this course. Otherwise I would have Latin honors. I loved USC's program and connected really well with my advisor. I'm worried my subject GRE in Biochem (28%) screwed me. I took this while in grad school (bad idea, no time). Applying to Where: Biochemistry/Mol Bio/Strucural Bio 1. USC - continuing same vein of structural research. 2. Baylor College of Medicine - I've contacted two researchers and was scouted for membrane/structural research. 3. UCSD - with our old collaborator (I've been in contact) 4. Scripps (SD) - A postdoctoral friend at UCLA went here, he provided advise and inspiration for using PD nanodiscs in my MS thesis. 5. UCLA - Working in my postdoctoral friend's dept/lab group using structural and allied techniques to resolve large peptide structures. Biomedical Sci 1. UCSD - similar lab group to my collaborator Neuroscience 1. UCSD - another similar lab in the med school where my old collaborator is located.

Undergrad Institution: University of Missouri - R1 AAU Graduate Institution: University of Southern California - R1 AAU Major(s): U - Biochemistry G - Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine Minor(s): U - Biology GPA in Major: N/A Overall GPA: uGPA 3.46 - gGPA 3.77 Position in Class: as per recommenders/mentors u - top 10% g - top 15% Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority? - Domestic / m / LD minority GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 161 (78%) V: 161 (88%) W: 5.0 (93%) B: did horribly on the last biochemistry one they offered, cannot retake (28%) only USC has the score. Will not send to others. TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) 3 pubs (2nd/5, 2nd/6, 3rd/6 from grad) earliest - most recent 1. 3.5 yrs in a large well known plant biochemistry lab at MU. I curated plants for the many ongoing projects and was able to learn very neat techniques while applying them toward the scientific basis of the question at hand. Ex. I used GC + H2 ionization detection (acetylene reduction) to measure Nitrogenase activity in a shotgun-KO gene population of Soybeans. I was also able to measure protein content in soybean seeds using NMR. 2. I moved onto a quantitative analytical structural/physical biochemistry lab at MU. I worked in this lab for 2-3yrs. I used ITC to compare binding of penta EF-hand peptides across mutated epitopes. This project developed into my first publication. (2nd Author Publication. Out of 5) Concurrently in the same lab I used CD spec in an array of stability/denaturation studies. Although I did not take quant lab in UG coursework I did have to master quantitative practice in all capacities in this lab especially since I was to work on my own project after 1-2 months training. I also aided in completing a structural study that helped answer the question addressed in my 1st publication. I developed an in-house crystallography scheme and later seeding/optimization technique in getting large crystals of the peptide in a non-occluded buffer. With expert help in looping/sample preparation I was able to send these samples to Livermore Collider and later use the beamline to collect diffraction data on these samples. This collaborative project became my 2nd (2nd author out of 6) publication from UG. 3. Graduate - I joined a structural, liquid state NMR lab that investigated integral and peripheral membrane structure and interaction with the PL bilayer. I contributed toward a site-directed mutagenesis study and created ITC samples for study in a helical-membrane anchoring study. This project was part of a collaboration with a UCSD researcher and we have a publication submitted (I'm 3rd out of 6). 4. Graduate (thesis) - I sought to develop a more physiologically and contextually relevant sample platform for membrane anchoring structural studies in liquid-state NMR. As my thesis committee mentioned this actually is 2 projects rolled into one in just over a year. A) I sought to employ PD Nanodiscs in creating these samples. I screened, optimized expression and ramped up production of 4 ApoA constructs in generating 4 differing sizes of nanodiscs. Once I narrowed down my top two ApoA constructs that would best suit the size and stability requirements for my intended target I tested 3 methods of phospholipid nanodisc creation while screening for the most stable nanodisc. (Using Gel filtration>SDS PAGE>15N NMR). B - Once the ApoA/ND phase yielded a viable sample I sought to create/optimize a single and double labeled NMR sample containing a single labanles target within the ND Bilayer. Although I was able to get a nice NMR sample, there was occlusion and less clarity from the developed sample however my efforts did pace a platform for further future progress. Since this was a 2-yr MS program I had to write it up and present where I was. - I presented this in my first poster presentation to our department. 5. Professional / Industry (<6 months, ~1.5yr at time of enrollment into intended PhD program in 2018). I work for a wonderful company (top-5 in Biotech in world), this is like google, lots of younger driven researchers. I really would like to stay here however I was advised to seek a PhD by my previous mentors, and I always wanted to ask/address and answer larger scientific questions. I develop proteins for academia (short list of clients includes those from UCSD, Harvard, MiT, Stanford CalTech), this position uses my full degree and set of experience from educational training. Industry is faster pace, I start and complete 2-3 projects in less than 2 weeks. I love how each project differs where I get to conduct literature search and develop methods for expression & purification. We also get to troubleshoot/aid downstream manufacturers with our developed targets whenever necessary. Generally I don't use a wide array of varying techniques but I always get to research such a broad range of interesting and extant protein targets of interest. I get to adapt an affordable, efficient and effective method of generating some of today's most difficult and lesser known proteins for researchers this keeps even the most avid researchers on their toes ? Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) none Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) I train newcomers in our Biotech company on routine methods/techniques. I was a TA at MU for 7 semesters - newcoming/struggling science majors in record-enrollment years at MU. I led class discussion, developed lessons/activities. Provided support and advise for more rigorous STEM courses. 15-35 students/semester. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) LD student a minority? Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My grandfather passed away one late undergraduate semester, one course I was taking did not allow me to relschedule a midterm. I sat early for it so I could goto his funeral, I got a C in this course. Otherwise I would have Latin honors. I loved USC's program and connected really well with my advisor. I'm worried my subject GRE in Biochem (28%) screwed me. I took this while in grad school (bad idea, no time). Applying to Where: Biochemistry/Mol Bio/Strucural Bio 1. USC - continuing same vein of structural research. 2. Baylor College of Medicine - I've contacted two researchers and was scouted for membrane/structural research. 3. UCSD - with our old collaborator (I've been in contact) 4. Scripps (SD) - A postdoctoral friend at UCLA went here, he provided advise and inspiration for using PD nanodiscs in my MS thesis. 5. UCLA - Working in my postdoctoral friend's dept/lab group using structural and allied techniques to resolve large peptide structures. 6. CalTech - I contacted a structural/analyitical lab where I really loved the creativity and scope of research in probing new methods to better structurally characterize proteins. Biomedical Sci 1. UCSD - similar lab group to my collaborator Neuroscience 1. UCSD - another similar lab in the med school where my old collaborator is located.