Nathan Lucas, PhD

**** ****** *** **, *******, WA 98116

ac2o0f@r.postjobfree.com www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-lucas Cell: 309-***-****

Research Scientist

I am a highly motivated biomedical research scientist with over 14 years of academic and industry experience working in ISO certified research labs. Accomplished in developing novel methods and protocols focused on protein characterization. Exceptional data analysis skills with a proven track record of accomplishing project goals within timelines. My expertise includes analysis of genetic variants for novel phenotypes using NGS methods.

Next generation sequencing (NGS) methodologies (sample prep, library design, analysis)

Knowlegeable in oncogenic signaling pathways

Phage display

Standard molecular biology techniques (PCR, cloning, Gibson cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, library creation)

qPCR

ELISA

Mammalian cell culture: primary and customized cell line

Bacterial cell culture

DNA purification/characterization

FPLC – Ion exchange, size exclusion, reverse phase; HPLC

Code development for comprehensive data analysis (Python, Perl, R)

Molecular modeling (Pymol)

Photoshop, ApE, Unicorn (AKTA), Vector NTI, primerX, Matlab, BIA Evaluation, BLAST, NCBI, clustalW

Project Communication

Microsoft Office

Professional Experience

March2016– April2017: Scientist, Stratos Genomics SEATTLE, WA

Designed, constructed, and screened polymerase libraries using high-throughput methods for the development of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology.

Project Coordination/Management

Led small but high profile research projects involved in the product development of an innovative next generation sequencing platform.

Functioned in a 15 person multidisciplinary team, developed technical methods for screening protein variants and assessing their activity.

Coordinated project plan and scheduling, reached project goals in limited timelines.

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Professional Experience, Cont.

Kept detailed records of library designs and status, gave bi-weekly presentations to company CEO and group director to present results and evaluate project goals.

Conducted research and trained junior staff on new techniques for molecular cloning and protein expression.

Facilitated the development of a new DNA sequencing platform for therapeutic treatment.

Gained valuable industry experience in a fast paced environment.

Advanced Assay Development

Customized assay conditions, which led to doubling the activity for synthetic nucleotides.

Completed template designs aimed at evaluating polymerase specificity.

Analyzed, organized, and made presentations on assay results.

June2012– March2016: Research Fellow, University of Washington. SEATTLE, WA

Designed and conducted interdisciplinary research focused on generating high affinity probes to visualize lipids in vivo, in order to understand their signaling function and develop therapeutic treatment.

Project Coordination/Management

Drove technical efforts developing protein probes for target lipids critical to inflammatory response and synaptic vesicle fusion.

Successfully developed a high-throughput assay prototype for protein selection.

Independently optimized selection conditions to maximize readout and specificity.

Ran experiments using phage display for screening lipid-protein interactions of several protein libraries.

Sequenced and analyzed genomic data from phage selections using NGS (Illumina NextSeq 500, MiSeq) methods to assess sequence-function relationships.

Routinely performed molecular cloning, cell culture, and chromatographic purification of recombinant proteins.

Trained and managed 3 undergraduates and 2 graduate research associates (serially).

Prepared written communications for accurate reproducibility of sample preps.

Gave weekly presentations on research with analysis of results, ideas for future experiments, and to generate project goals.

Efforts resulted in more than $600,000 in funding received.

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Professional Experience, Cont.

Software Development

Worked in collaboration with other post-docs and graduate students to develop programs used to interpret and analyze NGS data.

Assessed quality of raw data through statistical analysis.

Customized code for analysis of NGS data from phage selections.

Aug2006–May2012: Graduate Student Researcher, University of Illinois CHICAGO, IL

Designed and conducted independent research projects aimed at understanding how lipids regulate complex signals propagated by membrane binding proteins.

Studied a master kinase in the PI3-Kinase signaling pathway.

Discovered a novel lipid-binding site using in vitro and in vivo methodologies.

Monitored dynamic lipid-protein interactions through fluorescence tracking in live cells using confocal microscopy.

Provided monthly updates to communicate results and project plans to group members and mentors.

Actively sought out collaborations with other labs for their expertise, developing well-rounded communication skills.

Other Experience

Coordinator-Biochemistry Lab, University of Illinois at Chicago 2010-2011

Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois at Chicago 2006-2011

Analyst, PDC Laboratories Inc. 2002-2006

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Chemistry

University of Illinois at Chicago, 2012

Bachelors Degree, Biochemistry

Loras College, 2002

Conference Posters

Lucas, N and Cho, W ”Determinating the Role of Phosphatidylserine in Plasma Membrane Targeting of 3’-Phosphoinositide-Dependent Kinase-1.” Poster title for spring 2010 meeting of The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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Publications

Rubin AF, Gelman H, Lucas N, Bajjalieh SM, Pappenfuss AT, Speed TP, Fowler DM (2017). A statistical framework for analyzing deep mutational scanning data. Genome Biology 18(1): 150.

Rowland, M, Gong, D, Bostic, H, Lucas, N, Cho, W, Best, M (2012). “Microarray analysis of Akt PH domain binding employing synthetic biotinylated analogs of all seven phosphoinositide headgroup isomers." Chem Phys Lipids 165(2): 207-15.

Lucas, N and Cho W (2011). "Phosphatidylserine Binding Is Essential for Plasma Membrane Recruitment and Signaling Function of 3-Phosphoinositide-dependent Kinase-1." J Biol Chem 286(48): 41265-72.

Rowland, M, Gong, D, Bostic, H, Lucas, N, Cho, W, Best, M (2011). "Phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate activity probes for the labeling and proteomic characterization of protein binding partners." Biochemistry 50(51): 11143-61.

Professional Awards/Affiliations/Volunteering

UW Cardiovascular Pathology Training Program Fellow (2015-2016)

Peer mentor for international graduate student orientation (2009-2012), reviewer for Journal of Biological Chemistry (2011-2016) and Medicinal Chemistry Letters (2013-2016)

Volunteer - Life Science Innovation Northwest 2015

Member of program for early parent support (PEPS) (2015-present)

Interests

Baseball, jigsaw puzzles, music

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