Houston, Texas, United States
Provide strategic planning and administrative oversight of clinical and translational research activities within the MD Anderson Epigenomics Therapy Initiative. I also participate in the development, implementation, and evaluation of multiple research initiatives and policies while also facilitating the success of projects.
As a Staff Scientist, I provided administrative oversight to the Multi-Investigator awards and serve as a key member in the scientific advances of research programs. Developed philanthropic initiatives and worked on projects that focus on dissemination and implementation of clinical trials. Worked with the Breast Surgical Oncology fellows and onboarding faculty to identify appropriate funding opportunities to help develop their research program. Organized the Breast Cancer Program scientific and operational activities to promote collaborations among translational and clinical research faculty. https://www.mdanderson.org/research/departments-labs-institutes/labs/keyhunt-laboratory.html
Overall research goal in the lab is development of multi-scale theoretical and experimental models in order to understand biological mechanisms that impact host-pathogen interactions. My current research area is to develop approaches to study the multiscale consequences of environmental perturbations on multicellular systems in several pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria and their interactions with immune cells. Key Responsibilities: •Established Biosafety level-2 (BSL2) experimental research laboratory •Lead research and programmatic activities in multiple projects involving host-pathogen interactions by bridging gap between Molecular Biology and Computational Engineering •Write federal grant applications (NSF and NIH) •Submit research reports, estimate budgets, strategic planning, analytical method development, standardization and validation of experimental protocols, training and leading research programs and teams with diverse academic background •Supervise laboratory operations; develop and write standard operating procedures (SOP), animal protocols, and Memorandum of understanding and agreement (MUA) •Spearheaded several research projects, make decisions to steer the progress of research •Build relationships and collaborations with research lab •Facilitating major equipment purchases •Scientific communications by presenting research as a guest lecture, conference presentations and peer reviewed journal publications
My research focus was on studying the role of Tetratricopeptide repeat proteins in Legionella pneumophila virulence, diceper their molecular mechanism of action in order to develop drug targets. •Initiated collaboration and ensured project completion between Albert Einstein Medical Schools’ core Proteomics facility and the Keck Laboratory at Yale University •Co-Chaired Albert Einstein Postdoctoral Association
Research projects focused on identifying serum protein biomarkers in poultry metabolic skeletal diseases. These studies paved path towards understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the disease process and help in early detection of the disease. * Collaborated and secured Research Grant from poultry industry Cobb Vantress Inc., • Established collaborations for computational analysis of data with Mississippi State University • Submission of grant proposals for fellowships • Writing and submission of US patent application • Leveraged academic and laboratory knowledge to successfully train graduate research assistants.