Professional Activities

Membership:

AACR (American Association for Cancer Research)                 
NSH (National Society for Histotechnology)
SAPA (Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association)

IV.       Working Experience:

1.  Merck Research Laboratories, In Vivo Pharmacology Dept., West Piont, PA:
2012 – present, Principal Investigator of animal model development at WP.
Support anti-viral, anti-cancer, and neuroscience projects. Serve as the lead and point of contact representing In vivo pharmacology dept. for several Merck internal projects.

2.  Merck Research Laboratories, RNA Therapeutics Dept., West Piont, PA:
2007 – 2011, Sr. Research Biologist; 2011 – 2012, Research Fellow.
Led siRNA therapeutics Biodistribution team to study liposome-siRNA, polymer-siRNA, antibody-conjugated-siRNA and folate-siRNA tissue/organ/cell distribution using a variety of techniques (IHC/IF, in situ hybridization, microscopy, in vivo and ex vivo non-invasive imaging, real-time qPCR, GentleMACS cell isolation and flow cytometry, laser capture microdissection LCM, etc). Served as a core member of biomarker discovery team and led the assessment of human HCC cell surface markers for targeted delivery to enable go/no-go decision of LNP and PC, and to support SCE SAR optimization.  Served as the first and corresponding author, published  review and research manuscripts in Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemstry. Served as a core team member of targeted delivery group in collaboration with peers from MedChem, DMPK, Saftey Assessment and formulation dept.

3. Thomas Jefferson University, Genetics program, Philadelphia, PA:
2002 – 2005 Part-time graduate student; 2006 full-time Ph.D candidate.     2003 – 2011, Collaboration with Dr. Renato Baserga's lab under Merck-TJU MTA.
-- Identified miRNAs targeting Insulin Receptor Substrate-1, evaluation of target specificity, and study of the anti-proliferative effect of tumor suppressor miRNA (miR-145).
-- Published miRNA microarray profiling in un-differentiated and differentiated myeloid cells.
-- Collaborated on endogenous miR145 promoter identification and its function and regulation.
-- Investigated signal transduction in liver regeneration.

4.  Merck Research Laboratories, Cancer research Dept., West Point, PA:
2001-2005, Research Biologist;  2005 – 2007, Research Associate.

5. Schering-Plough Research Institute, Dept. of Tumor Biology, Kenilworth, NJ:
1998 –2000, Assistant Scientist (II);  2000 – 2001, Associate Scientist.

6. Institute of Gene Therapy and Molecular Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY:  1997- 1998, Research Coordinator.
--Established ultrafiltration methods to increase the titer of recombinant retroviruses; and performed Molecular Biology techniques using both retroviruses and adenoviruses as vectors for type I diabetes gene therapy.

7. SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse, Microbiology and Immunology Dept., Syracuse, NY:  1994—1997, Graduate assistant at Dr. Edward J. Shillitoe’s laboratory.
--Studied how to use adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a vector for cancer gene therapy. Included construction of rAAV for better expression of therapeutic genes using different promoters and characterized recombinant viruses and detection of the anti-tumor effect in vitro. 

8. Tianjin Neurological Inst., Tianjin Medical University, Dept. of Neurochem., Tianjin,
P.R.China: 1990—1994, Research Associate.
--Involved in a project on “HSP-70 gene expression regulated by free radical following transient cerebral ischemia”. Responsibilities included establishment of rat model of reversible forebrain ischemia; enzyme assays; HPLC; primary culture of brain tumors from patients, etc. Presented two abstracts in The Second Stanford International Neuroscience Symposium in Beijing in 1993.

9. Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association-Greater Philadelphia (SAPA-GP): (2009 – present), Volunteer (2009-2011), Executive Council (2011-2012), Senior Leadership team member (SLT, 2012-present); General Secretary (2012-2013); Chair of Media Communication (2012-2013); VP of Public Affairs (2013-present).
-- Organize career workshop, scientific symposium and annual conference; host Chinese FDA and government official visits and served as the translator as needed.

Editorial activities and Journal reviewer:   
Journal of Histotechnology
Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry
Journal of Therapeutic Delivery (Future Science Group)
Journal of Immunotherapy (Future Science Group)
Nanomedicine
BioMed Research International (Hindawi Publishing Corporation)
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
Journal of mini-reviews in medicinal chemistry

Patent:              
Enhanced anti-tumor activity by Dinaciclib in combination with ABT-199 in vivo.  Filed by Merck in 2014.
Isolated nucleic acid molecules corresponding to microRNA 145 (miR-145) and their use in treating colon cancers. Filed by Merck, 2007.
The farnesyl protein transferase inhibitor SCH66336 synergizes with taxanes in vitro and enhances their anti-tumor activity in vivo. Filed by Schering-Plough, 1999.