Research Assistant

LAVANYA KONDAPALLI

EDUCATION

Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, CA, USA

Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (GPA: 3.75)

Scholarship: Teaching assistantship with full fee waiver

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad, India

Bachelors in Pharmacy (GPA: 3.89)

Recipient: Obtained seat through state level entrance test with waived tuition, in merit

SKILLS

• Cell culture and maintenance, cell and tissue culture assays

• UV-Vis, HPLC, DSC, Particle Size Analyzer and basic knowledge in NMR.

• FACS Flow Cytometer and ABI 7300 RT-PCR

• Fluorescence microscopy, H&E staining, Immunohistochemistry, Immunofluorescence,

TUNEL

• Western Blot, ELISA, DNA microarray analysis and tissue micro array

• Small animal handling, injections, surgery, tissue isolation, in-vivo imaging and tissue analysis

• Cryostat (cryo-sectioning of tissues) handling

• Zebra fish embryo handling and microscopic observation

• Physical, chemical, biological, genetic and other research laboratory experiments

• Inventory maintenance, record keeping and tracking experiments

• Statistical analysis, literature review, poster presentation, journal paper writing

• Formulations and physic-chemical characterization of nanoparticles

Software skills:

• MS Office packages 2003, 2007 and 2010

• Chemdraw, statistical analysis software Graphpad Prism, image analysis software ImageJ

from NIH, flow cytometry analysis software Flowjo and bibliographic software editions

Endnote X4 to X7.

• Regular computer maintenance, data backup and troubleshooting

WORK EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, Western University of Health Sciences (Jan 2012- Present):

• Conducted in-vivo experiments in tumor-bearing mice to investigate the anti-tumor effect and

drug accumulation from targeted formulations for cancer

• Conducted various supplementary studies to investigate the targeting efficiency of targeting

liposomes to pancreatic cancer like in-vivo imaging with small animals (mice and zebra fish)

• Also performed experiments to validate Near- Infrared fluorescent dyes in collaboration with UVP

Inc. and Thermo Scientific companies.

• Principal Investigator published patent application for the invented formulation

• Presented the work in annual conferences like American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists

(AAPS) and American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

Research Assistant, WUHS (Jan 2010-Dec 2011):

• Duties included assisting Professors in preparing study material, proctoring and grading exams

of Pharmacy students. Supervised students to perform compounding labs

• Conducted research for a collaborative project which included 3-D cell cultures to mimic

mucosal layer, TUNEL assay, 3-D tissue image analysis, normalization of microarray data

using Excel and organized into graphs

• Formulated targeted liposomes and characterized them (particle size, encapsulation, DSC etc.)

• Performed pancreatic cancer cellular uptake of targeted liposomes by Fluorescence microscopy

and Flow Cytometry. Obtained abundance data for target in tumor cells or tissues by RT-PCR,

Western Blot and Immunohistochemistry

• Performed various experiments using animals like anti-tumor effect, PK studies, tissue

distribution etc.

• Hands-on experience using Zebra fish embryos and their microscopic observation for

internalization of drugs.

• Different injection techniques on animals like subcutaneous, IV, IP etc.

• Observed tissue drug accumulation by histological analysis

Miscellaneous Experience (2005-2009)

• As a Bachelor’s student, undertook an analysis project to prepare and analyze solid dispersions

of an analgesic drug

• Formulated solid dispersions of the drug by chemical reactions

• Studied drug content, solubility, dissolution and stability of the drug laid foundation for

analytical skills

• Used instruments like UV-Vis, HPLC, GC, TLC, PC, Dissolution, Disintegration apparatus,

automatic and manual tableting machine, auto and manual capsule filling machine etc.

• Worked at a blood bank where I learnt blood collection, sampling and testing for blood groups.

Also HIV test on some of the patients' blood sample

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Presented posters consecutively in AAPS Annual Meetings (2010, 2011, 2012) and

PSWC 2010

• Presented a poster in one of the largest Cancer Conferences, AACR in 2011, 2012 and

2013

• Achieved Dean’s list for merit

• Achieved animal training certificate in IACUC for hands on training with small animals.

• Patent application published for the research work on targeting cancer with liposomes

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