PhD Scientist Director R&D Business Development Strategy Consulting

X I NP I NG ZHAO, PH.D., MBA

**** *. ********* ****** **. Houston, TX 77025 832-***-**** *******.*.****@*****.*** Citizenship: U.S. Citizen

SENIOR SCIENTI ST / PROGRAM DIRECTOR

L I FE SC I ENCE S GENET I CS MOLECULAR B IOLOGY R&D PRODUCT DEVE LOPMENT I NT ’ L BUS I NE SS Senior scientist and program director with over 20 years of experience leading complex, innovative scientific and business initiatives. Pioneer in the field of genetics who discovered and patented ATL1, a neurodegenerative disease gene, and created the world's first CLIA-certified corneal dystrophy genetics laboratory. Cross-functional team leader skilled in managing competing priorities and securing millions of dollars in funding from elite institutes. Bilingual communicator

(English, Chinese) with expertise navigating organizations and cultivating relationships with diverse stakeholders. PATENTS AND PUBLICATIONS

41+ peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals, including Nature Genetics, Genome Research, Neurology and Am J Hum Genet, 3 invited articles and 2 book chapters (available upon request). Discovered 20+ human and plant genes, and patented ATL1, a major human neurodegenerative disease gene that is currently licensed for commercial gene tests. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Independent Life Sciences Business Consultant 2015 – Present Designed business strategies and recruited potential investors to secure funding for clients, including:

Developed marketing strategies to boost sales; designed scientific study to determine product effectiveness for start-up beauty and wellness company

Evaluated and refined business plan and strategy for start-up travel company UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT HOUSTON, DEPARTMENT OF OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISION SCIENCE Houston, TX Assistant & Associate Professor; Director of Corneal Dystrophy Genetics and Zebrafish Genetics Lab 2002 – 2014

Strategic and tactical authority over corneal dystrophy genetics and zebrafish genetics projects

Created the world’s first CLIA-certified lab, providing DNA diagnosis to 200+ patients with corneal dystrophy

Created 10+ zebrafish corneal and retinal gene mutants using the cutting edge gene editing technologies (ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR), which are useful for human eye disease study and drug discovery

Developed a sensitive and widely used monitoring system of zebrafish Cre-recombinase for genome study

Built and led int’l team, which discovered the correlation between human and zebrafish corneal gene mutations

Won research award from the International Cornea Society on the creative and fundamental work in the zebrafish cornea, which revealed the suitability of the zebrafish as a model animal for studying the human cornea

Secured $3M+ in grants from National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Mentored, coached and directed 20+ research fellow, scientists, research associates and other key staff

Reviewed 50+ grants and manuscripts for NIH study sections, global study panels and scientific journals SEEFIT, LLC Houston, TX

Vice President of R&D and Business Development 2002 – 2007 Employee #4 at SeeFit, which developed eye wares to address the growing problem of chronic dry eye. SeeFit products created a unique microenvironment that helped to maintain suitable moisture around the eye.

Executed development and launch of business plan in alignment with financial, strategic and operational goals

Sourced, secured and grew critical partnerships with marketing and manufacturing firms

Directed all phases of R&D and product development life cycles

Won an NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase I grant, which is awarded to <15% of applicants CLAVIS, LLC Ann Arbor, MI

Co-founder 2001 – 2002

Clavis provided business consulting services to early stage biotechnology companies. Key clients included Rubicon Genomics (Ann Arbor, MI), Detroit R&D (Detroit, MI), Windber Research Institute (Johnstown, PA) and Xeotron (Houston, TX). Clavis helped clients secure funding and implement business strategies which have sustained long-term growth. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (CONTINUED)

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGY Ann Arbor, MI Project Director and Research Investigator 1997 – 2002

Planned, directed and evaluated neurodegenerative disease research projects, including spearheading large-scale DNA sequencing project for gene discovery. Discovered and patented ATL1, a gene that causes hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and was licensed for commercial gene mutation screening

Created neurological disease animal model and patented mouse-model of HSP (spastin gene knock-out mice)

Wrote research grants; awarded $1.5M+ from NIH and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Mentored and led 10 research fellows, research associates, research assistant and students UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY Ann Arbor, MI Project Leader, Senior Fellow and Research Investigator 1994 – 1997

Directed positional cloning projects, research program activities and a team of 5 multidisciplinary staff

Discovered 10 novel human skin-specific genes that are essential for normal skin differentiation

Won Dermik Laboratories Research Grant from the Dermatology Foundation (awarded to 2 candidates per year) TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY College Station, TX

Research Group Leader and Postdoctoral Associate 1992 – 1994

Pioneer to systematically identify all repetitive DNA elements in a plant genome – discovered and characterized 100+ major repetitive elements that account for over 50% of the cotton genome DNA

Developed novel methods for high molecular weight DNA isolation and improved BAC/YAC cloning methodologies

Managed scientific experiments and mentored 6 research assistants and students EDUCATION

M.B.A., Integrative and Strategic Management Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Ph.D., Molecular Biology/Genetics University of Georgia, Athens, GA M.S., Genetics Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China B.S., Biology Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

Processes: Design and construction of expression and transgenic vectors, immunology, histoimmunochemistry, functional genomics, gene editing, mapping and cloning, cell culture, drug toxicity screening, human disease study and gene testing Technology: Recombinant DNA, RNA, PCR, knockout and transgenics, DNA sequencing, ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR Software: MS Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word); Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator); DNASTAR (Software for Molecular Biology)

X I N P I NG Z H AO, PAG E 2

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