Medical Microbiology

Mayami Sengupta, Ph.D.

New York, NY ******.********@*****.*** 903-***-**** www.linkedin.com/in/mayami-sengupta SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATION

§ Analytical, detail-oriented, seasoned scientist with over 15 years of research experience in broad range therapeutics; resulting in 7 peer-reviewed publications and over 260 citations.

§ Track record of innovative research and critical thinking, whose research led to development of a vaccine company XVAX and direct collaboration with a therapeutics company in Boston.

§ Outstanding project management, written and oral communication skills, with excellent interpersonal skills. Mentored trainees

(MD/PhD and MS candidates), demonstrated leadership skills.

§ Demonstrated excellent patience and teamwork, as evaluated highly by undergraduate and postgraduate students. RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

THERAPEUTICS

§ High throughput Protein Therapeutics Researcher (Associate Faculty), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

(Nov 2016-Present)

− Solely generated all stable cell lines.

− Collaboratively develop an automated cell based screening system that enables functional identification of receptor- ligand pairs in context of TCR-MHC binding, to identify co-receptors involved in T cell regulation, with the ultimate aim of identifying new therapeutic targets. This work is in direct collaboration with a therapeutics company in Boston.

− Provide protein production pipeline and consultation services to clients.

§ Gene Modulation Researcher (Associate Faculty), shRNA Facility (02/2016-11/2016)

− Meticulously conducted genetics and cell biology research, encompassing gRNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9, covering all scales of targets (indels), from modulation of individual genes to exploration of gene pathways and families to genome-scale screens.

− Provided next-step research guidance and direction to clients to facilitate their research. AUTOIMMUNITY

§ Autoimmune Researcher (Post-doctoral Associate), University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, Fl. (05/2011–03/2013)

− Lead on epigenetics project: solely executed ChIP-SEQ to identify genes and signaling pathways that contribute to the development of lupus.

− Discovered 125 novel bindings sites for PBX1, including strong binding sites in the CD44 intron 1.

− Awarded the Experimental Pathology Grant-UF “Analysis of the role of Pbx1 gene in Jurkat T cells”.

− Five publications in less than two years; including 2 as first author and 1 as co-first author. INFECTIOUS DISEASES

§ Vaccine Genetics Scientist (Research Specialist 1), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bronx, NY (12/2013-02/2016)

− Contributed substantially to the development of a paradigm-shifting virology vaccine that protects against HSV1 and HSV2; this groundbreaking research led to the start of a vaccine company, XVAX.

− Single handedly demonstrated that the HSV2 gD mutant virus failed to recombine with the HSV1-complementing sequences, which is extremely important for patient safety in future clinical trials of the vaccine.

− Developed many HSV-HIV dual vaccine candidate to elicit protection against HIV in a mouse model without hindering the protection exhibited against the HSV virus, whilst supervising an MD/ Ph.D. student

− Publication in elife 2015, demonstrating successful teamwork, this publication was highlighted in F1000.

§ Vaccine Scientist (Research Fellow), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (04/2009-05/2011)

− Independently planned and executed a strategy to develop improved mycobacterial vaccine vectors (expressing HIV epitopes), using a series of new auxotrophic mutants of M.tuberculosis (Mtb) that are much safer than BCG in immunocompromised mice.

§ Microbiologist (Postdoctoral Research Associate), University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX. (03/2008- 03/2009)

− Investigated the effects of passive smoke on the immune system in animal models infected with M. tuberculosis and influenza in a Biosafety Level Category 3 (BSL3) laboratory.

− Findings demonstrated that cigarette smoke exposure increased bacterial burden in mice infected with Mtb and increased weight loss and mortality in mice infected with influenza virus.

§ Actinomycete Scientist, Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council, U.K. (09/2006–01/2007)

− Developed a novel subtractive hybridization method with streptavidin beads to identify strain differences within the S. violaceoruber clade.

− Applied this method to all Streptomyces somaliensis strains that clustered together phylogenetically, in an attempt to identify virulence factor genes, including pathogenicity islands. Mayami Sengupta, Ph.D. Page 2 of 2

§ Laboratory Teaching Demonstrator, Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK (09/2004–09/2007)

− Instructed and supervised postgraduate and undergraduate students in the biological sciences and identified novel Actinomycete sp. from soil. Developed enhanced communication and interpersonal skills.

§ Clinical Microbiologist, Kasturba Medical Hospital, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India (09/2002– 07/2004).

− Managed clinical research in the Emergency Night Laboratory; solely responsible for processing patient samples to identify infectious agents for diagnostic purposes. SELECTED TECHNICAL SKILLS

§ Molecular biology: Automated robot handling, assay development & validation, library screening, CRISPR, DNA/RNA extraction, PCR, primer design, construct design & cloning techniques, bacterial transformation, recombinant DNA technology, western blot, DNA-DNA pairing, subtractive hybridization & hybridization, electrophoretic mobility shift assay

(EMSA), DNA & Protein gels, ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, NGS library preparation, protein production and purification.

§ Microbiology: Aseptic techniques, inoculating agar plates, isolating and growing bacteria, antibiotic sensitivity testing, cell staining, biochemical & phenotypic tests, serotyping, virology- generating virus, plaque assay, basic skills in parasitology and mycology.

§ Microscopy: Light, Electron, Fluorescent microscopy & Digital-phase contrast imaging (acquisition & analysis).

§ Cell biology/Immuno-assay: Cell based assay, ELISA, ELISpot, immune cell isolation, human and mouse cell culture, antigen presentation assay, reporter cell assay, T cell stimulations assay, monitoring T cell response, generation of cell lines, transfection (retroviral and lentiviral), transduction, cell sorting, flow cytometry.

− Mouse work and infection/vaccination with bacterial and viral strains.

§ Computing Skills: Comparative genomics, PHYDIT, CLUSTAL, used MEGA 4 and TREEVIEW to generate phylogenetic trees, Clone Manager, Prism, DIVA & FlowJo, NCBI, PubMed, Microsoft Office. SELECTED AWARDS

§ Funding for development of Epigenetics. Experimental Pathology Grant. Department of Pathology and Immunology, University of Florida (2011). Title: Analysis of the role of Pbx1 gene in Jurkat T cells.

§ Societies of General Microbiology-International Union of Microbiological Societies Congress Travel Grant (2006)

§ Societies of General Microbiology-Federation of European Microbiological Societies Congress Travel Grant (2005) CERTIFICATION AND INDEPENDENT COURSES

§ Project Management for Scientists- online NYU Langone

§ Business Concepts for Life Scientists- online biology science business course.

§ Biosafety Level 3. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. (2009) and University of Health Science Center at Tyler, TX, USA. (2008), Health Protection Agency, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, UK. (2005)

§ Quality Control in the Laboratory. College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal, India. (2003)

§ Recent Advances in Diagnosis of Mycolic Infections & Infectious Disease Specialty. XXVII National Conference of Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists, Mumbai, India (2003)

§ National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) SWIFT curriculum. Kolkata, India. (2001) ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

§ Reviewer for Society of Microbiology. (06/2018-Present)

§ Active participant of the “14th International Symposium on Biology of Actinomycetes” organizational team, The Sage, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. (2007)

− Managed event coordination, problem solving in both scientific and non-scientific matters.

§ Ambassador for international visiting scientists, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. (2004-2009) EDUCATION

§ Ph.D., Microbial Systematics, Thesis: “Characterization of novel aerobic Actinomycetes”, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K. (04/2009)

§ M.Sc., Clinical Microbiology (with Physiology, Anatomy & Biochemistry), Thesis: “Antibiotic sensitivity patterns in uropathogens”, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India. (08/2004)

§ B.Sc., General Microbiology (Honors), Physics and Chemistry, Andrews College, Kolkata, India. (04/2001) SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

§ Petro C, González PA, Cheshenko N, Jandl T, Khajoueinejad N, Bénard A, Sengupta M et al. (2015). Herpes simplex type 2 virus deleted in glycoprotein D protects against vaginal, skin and neural disease. eLife; 4:e06054.

§ Niu Y, Sengupta M et al (2017). The PBX 1 lupus susceptibility gene regulates CD44 expression. Molecular Immunology; 85:148-154.

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