JASON WHITE

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

*** ********** ****, **** ****

University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT 06269

860-***-****

ab9h5s@r.postjobfree.com

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION

College/University Major Degree &Year

University of Connecticut-Storrs Chemical Engineering Ph.D., Anticipated 12/2013

Advisor: Dr. Ranjan Srivastava

Thesis: Inferring Biochemical Kinetics Through Symbolic Regression

GPA = 3.97/4.00

University of Connecticut-Storrs Chemical Engineering M.S., 5/2013

University of Connecticut-Storrs Chemical Engineering B.S., 5/2008

Thesis: Mathematical Modeling of Oral Cavity Mucositis

Summa cum laude, GPA = 3.91/4.00

Honors Scholar

HONORS

2012 - 2013 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam Grant Recipient

2012 Lemelson-MIT Excite Award

2012 Selection for Attendance at Northeastern University’s Advance Workshop

2010 - 2012 NSF GK-12 Fellowship

2008 UCONN Honors Scholar

2007 Omega Chi Epsilon Membership

2007 Tau Beta Pi Membership

2007 New England Scholar Award

2006 Babbidge Scholar Award

2006 Unilever Chemical Engineering Scholar

2005 - 2008 Dean’s List in the School of Engineering

2005 - 2007 Arnold Griffin Scholarship in Engineering

PUBLICATIONS

• Srivastava R, White JR, Lalla LV, Loew LM, and Peterson DE. Optimizing Personalized Treatment

of Oral Mucositis Secondary to Cancer Therapy Through Systems Biology. Journal of Clinical

Oncology. 29:2011 (suppl; abstr e19690).

• Peterson DE, Srivastava R, White JR, Lalla RV, and Loew LM. Systems Biology of Oral Mucositis.

Journal of Clinical Oncology 26:9634, 2008.

MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION

• White JR and Srivastava R. Inferring Biochemical Kinetics via An Encoded Symbolic Regression

Algorithm. In Preparation.

• White JR, Peterson DE, Lalla RV, Dieckhaus K, Han L, Bollas G, and Srivastava R. Optimizing

HIV-1 Treatment Via a Systems Biology Approach. In Preparation.

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• Srivastava R, White JR, Lalla RV, Loew L, and Peterson DE. The Role of Systems Biology

and Personalized Medicine in Cancer Treatment. In Preparation.

PRESENTATIONS

• White JR and Srivastava R. Inferring Biochemical Kinetics Through Symbolic Regression Analysis.

245th ACS National Meeting and Exposition, April 2013 (oral presentation).

• White JR and Srivastava R. Genetic Algorithm-Based Optimization of HIV-1 Treatment Using Elite

Selection Strategy Variant. 2011 BMES Annual Meeting, October 2011 (oral presentation).

• Abusleme L, Dupuy A, Dutzan N, White J, Srivastava R, Silva N, Strausbaugh L, Gamonal J, and

Diaz PI. Subgingival Microbiome of Bleeding and Non-Bleeding Sites with Chronic Periodontitis.

International Association of Dental Research Meeting in Latin America, October 2011.

• White JR and Srivastava R. Impact of Coordinating Viral Systems Biology and Personalized-

Medicine for Optimizing HIV Treatment. ACS National Meeting and Exposition, March 2011.

• Garaffa M, Peterson DE, Parham K, White JR, Choquette L, Lalla RV, Latortue MC, and Srivastava

R., Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) for Oral Mucositis in Cancer Patients. ACS National Meeting and

Exposition, March 2010.

• Peterson DE, Srivastava R, White JR, Lalla RV, and Loew LM. Systems Biology of Mucosal Injury

in Cancer Patients. ASCO Annual Meeting, June 2008.

• Peterson DE, Srivastava R, White JR, Lalla RV, and Loew LM. Systems Biology of Mucosal Injury

in Cancer Patients. MASCC Symposium, June 2008.

• White JR, Srivastava R, Peterson DE, Lalla RV, and Loew, LM. Biochemical Network Analysis of

Mucosal Injury in Cancer Patients. University of Connecticut Health Center Oncology Retreat,

October 2007.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut,

(January 2009 - July 2010 & August 2012 - December 2013)

• Developed a gene expression programming inspired symbolic regression algorithm to infer biochemical

kinetics from time series biological data. The algorithm will be validated on an in silico data set

describing a general model of viral dynamics and applied to generate a model describing the infection of

E.coli by the MS2 bacteriophage. In the future, it will be used as a tool to generate hypotheses of

biochemical network connectivity from experimental data sets.

• Created an improved evolutionary algorithm selection strategy termed elite-variant selection. This

selection strategy was evaluated on a number of test problems as well as on an HIV treatment

optimization problem.

• Investigated the mechanism of NF-κB regulation and developed a mathematical model describing this

mechanism. Treatment against this network of interactions was simulated using the model as a base

case. Treatment of two extreme subjects, identified by allowing for variation in the model parameters,

was also considered.

NSF GK-12 Fellow, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut,

(August 2010 - July 2012)

• Utilized a model of HIV dynamics to compare the efficacy of standard HIV treatment to structured

treatment interruption (STI) regimens on an in silico population of HIV subjects. A genetic algorithm

was used to evolve an optimized HIV treatment regimen that balanced treatment dosage and side-effects

with treatment efficacy.

Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of

Connecticut, (January 2007 - August 2008)

• Developed a mass action kinetic model describing the temporal behavior of nine biochemical species

involved in the pathogenesis of oral cavity mucositis using COX-2 pathway data derived from literature

studies as well as pre- and post-transplant oral mucosal biopsies from three hematopoietic cell transplant

patients. Virtual Cell software was used to simulate network dynamics.

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TEACHING AND MENTORING EXPERIENCE

• Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams: Applied for and received a $6,500 grant from the Lemelson-MIT

InvenTeams program to build a compost water-heating system with a team of 12 high school students at

Ella T. Grasso Southeastern Technical High School in Groton, CT. The invention will be presented at

EurekaFest, an annual event sponsored by the Lemelson-MIT program to celebrate the inventive spirit.

• First in Family Energy Program (FIFE) Mentor: Mentored an undergraduate engineering student in

the FIFE program from September 2010 - May 2013. Responsibilities included discussing homework,

answering questions about the School of Engineering and campus life, and ensuring that tutoring and

service hours required to continue in the scholarship program were met.

• Middle School Basketball Coaching: Coacheed the Boys Basketball Team at Hall Memorial School in

Willington, CT, which fielded boys in grades 6-8, from November 2005 - February 2013.

• NSF GK-12 Fellowship: Conducted activities at Ella T. Grasso Southeastern Technical High School in

Groton, CT from September 2010 - June 2012 relating to sustainability engineering. The majority of

activities were done in the Biosciences and Environmental Technology and Electrical shops as well as in

Mathematics classes. Students interested in engineering were also mentored and encouraged to apply to

UConn Engineering to receive a special scholarship. In May 2012, Jason organized the 1st Annual

Grasso’s Technology Fair at Grasso Tech which featured 31 inventive projects designed by teams of

students. The projects all addressed an issue in sustainability.

• Advising of Undergraduate Senior Design Group: Advised a group of four senior undergraduate

students taking Chemical Engineering Design and Economics during the Spring 2010 semester. The

group worked on the design of a facility to produce monoclonal antibodies for use in cancer treatment.

• K-8 Substitute Teaching: Taught as a substitute teacher for grades K-8 during the Fall 2008 semester.

Duties included classroom instruction, lunch, and recess supervision.

• Religious Education Instruction: Taught 6th Grade Religious Education at St. Thomas Church in

Storrs, CT during the 2007-2008 academic year. Taught 7th Grade Religious Education at St. Joseph’s

Church in Rockville, CT from 2005-2007.

SKILLS

• Research: Computational Biology, Mathematical Modeling, Machine Learning, Evolutionary

Algorithms, Genetic Programming, Genetic Algorithms, Parameter Optimization, High Performance

Computing, Reaction Kinetics, Prokaryotic Cell Culture, and Viral Plaque Assay

• Computer Languages: Common Lisp (fluent), SML (exposed), Racket (exposed), Ruby (exposed), and

C++ (exposed)

• Software: Mathematica, Berkeley Madonna, Virtual Cell, MS Office, Mac OSX, Ubuntu, and Windows

SERVICE ACTIVITIES

• American Chemical Society: Current Member

• Society for Biological Engineers: Current Member

• Tau Beta Pi: Participated in Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society from 2006-2008. Served as

Recording Secretary during the 2007-2008 academic year.

• Omega Chi Epsilon: Participated in the Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society from

2006-2008. Served as Treasurer during the 2007-2008 academic year.

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