William H. Blackburn 404-***-****
*** ******** ***** ****************@*****.***
Canton, GA 30115
Summary
Ph.D. Biochemist with a diverse background including experience in targeted drug delivery to cancer cells, siRNA delivery, biosensors and electrolyte sensors for point-of-care medical devices, polymer hydrogel synthesis, cell culture, and slot die coating. Have managed and mentored R&D team in development of new products for FDA regulated medical device company. Extensive experience in the chemistry lab and managing projects. Strong practical and creative thinker with an excitement for solving problems, seeking a Senior Research Scientist/Manager position that will utilize these skills. Research Experience
Manager & Scientist
R&D Scientist, NPD Staff I, OPTIMedical Systems, Roswell, GA 2008-present
Manager of Systems Processing Group
• Lead team of 3 people, including 2 Ph.D. chemists
• Lead team members in development of pCO2 sensor
• Mentor team in refinement and improvement of electrolyte and metabolite sensors
Project Management experience
• Led team to scale up manufacture and improvement of lactate biosensor through slot die coating technique, greatly reducing manufacturing costs
• Led team in multi-year investigation of hydrogel-based electrolyte sensors to optimize performance
Worked on development of bioassays for cardiac marker sensors
Synthesis of indicator fibers for medical diagnostic sensors
Integral part of team transferring R&D finished projects to production
Production of diagnostic sensors, including lactate, Na, K, pH, Ca, pCO2 and Cl, by loop coating and knife coating techniques
Six Sigma Black Belt
Graduate Research Assistant, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 2003-2008 Advisor: Professor L. Andrew Lyon
Thesis: Microgel Bioconjugates for Mediation of Cellular Interactions
Targeted drug delivery to cancer cells via polymer nanogels
• Ability to load nanogels with high concentrations of siRNA and doxorubicin
• Targeted nanogels to ovarian cancer cells (HEY and BG-1 cells) and melanoma cells
(M21 cells)
• Ability to deliver siRNA via nanogels and achieve near complete knockdown of targeted protein
• Cultured cells and performed Western Blot analysis to determine protein knockdown
Developed collaboration with Professor John McDonald at Georgia Tech School of Biology and The Ovarian Cancer Institute
Polymer chemistry experience
• Synthesized near 50-nm radius core/shell nanogels by free-radical precipitation polymerization
• Conjugated nanogels with peptide sequences and folic acid
Analytical Chemistry experience
• Utilized DLS, MALLS, UV-Vis, fluorimetry, fluorescence microscopy, NMR, confocal microscopy to determine size, conjugation and loading of nanogels Education
Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology 2008
Molecular Biophysics Fellowship
President’s Fellowship
GAANN Fellowship from Center for Drug Design, Development, and Delivery M.N.S. with Biochemistry concentration, Louisiana State University 2003 B.S. in Microbiology, Louisiana State University 2001
Chancellors Top 100 Scholar
Publications
Dickerson, Erin B.; Blackburn, William H.; Smith, Michael H.; Kapa, Laura B.; Lyon, L. Andrew; McDonald John F. “Chemosensitization of Cancer Cells by siRNA Using Targeted Nanogel Delivery”, BMC Cancer, 2010, 10:10.
Blackburn, William H.; Dickerson, Erin B.; McDonald, John F.; Lyon, L. Andrew. “Targeted nanogel delivery of siRNA to ovarian cancer cells”, Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2009, 20, 5, 960-968. Blackburn, William H.; Lyon, L. Andrew. “Size Controlled Synthesis of Monodispersed, Core/Shell Nanogels”, Colloid and Polymer Science, 2008, 286, 563-569. Singh, Neetu; Blackburn, William H.; and Lyon, L. Andrew. “Bioconjugation of Soft Nanomaterials”, Biomedical Nanostructures, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2008, 61-91. Patents
Lyon, L.A.; McDonald, J.; Dickerson, E.B.; and Blackburn, William H. "Nanogels For Cellular Delivery of Therapeutics", United States Patent No. US 8,361,510 B2. Presentations
Blackburn, William H.; Wu, Helen; Travers, Paul J. OptiMedical Systems, Roswell, GA. "Lactate Biosensor For Point-of-Care Measurement", 2011 AACC Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2011, Atlanta, GA.
Blackburn, William H.; Lyon, L. Andrew. Microgel bioconjugates for cancer cell targeting. Invited Speaker. 2008 St. Jude National Graduate Student Symposium, Memphis, TN, March 26-28, 2008.
(Oral and Poster Presentation)
Blackburn, William H.; Dickerson, Erin B.; McDonald, John F.; Lyon, L. Andrew. Cell targeting via microgel particles. Industrial Partners Bioengineering Symposium, Atlanta, GA, October 15-17, 2007
(Poster Presentation)
Blackburn, William H.; Dickerson, Erin B.; McDonald, John F.; Lyon, L. Andrew. Microgel bioconjugates for cancer cell targeting. Abstracts of Papers, Spring 2007 MRS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, United States, April 9-13, 2007 (2007), Session T10 (Oral Presentation) Blackburn, William H.; Lyon, L. Andrew. Cell targeting via microgel particles. Graduate Student Symposium, Atlanta, GA, March, 2007 (Poster Presentation) Blackburn, William H.; Lyon, L. Andrew. Microgel bioconjugates for cancer cell targeting. Molecular Biophysics Review, Georgia Institute of Technology, February 19, 2007 (Oral Presentation) Blackburn, William H.; Lyon, L. Andrew. Microgel bioconjugates for mediation of cellular interactions. Abstracts of Papers, 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, United States, March 26-30, 2006
(2006), COLL-04 (Oral Presentation)
Professional Organizations
American Chemical Society 2005-current
Materials Research Society 2006-2007
American Association of Clinical Chemistry 2011-2012