Lab Manager Senior Scientist

Maher Elsheikh

San Lorenzo, CA ***** *************@*****.*** 530-***-****

Lab Manager/Senior Scientist

An accomplished professional with extensive experience spearheading multimillion-dollar projects from inception to completion and ensuring prompt delivery of products to customers in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Exceptional leadership, analytical, and organizational skills with ability to foster productive relationships with key stakeholders. Demonstrated history of developing and validating new scientific protocols and technologies.

EDUCATION

PhD in Medical Microbiology and Immunology with a Designated Emphasis on Biotechnology

Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department 2018

University of California Davis

Dissertation Title: HIV Cure Through Eradication of Viral Reservoirs.

Master of Science in Biological Sciences with emphasis on Microbiology 2003

California State University East Bay

Thesis Title: Isolation and Identification of Cellulolytic Bacteria from Environmental Sources

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Lab Manager/Sr. Scientist, 06/2023-9/2024

Stanford University, School of Medicine - Stanford, CA

Managed and supervised a group of 25 medical doctors, post doctoral professionals, graduate and undergraduate students, and technical staff.

Key Contributions:

Support the activities of the Lab principal Investigator/Vice-Chair and provide leadership coverage when PI is not present.

Organize and coordinate daily operations of the laboratory; provide direct oversight of the laboratory procedures and execute laboratory responsibilities and standardization.

Facilitate audits, safety inspections, implement EHS programs and monitoring activities for compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements (Cal/OSHA, EPA, RCRA, DOT).

Manage hazardous waste programs, including oversight of hazardous waste stream and biowaste activities, and provide guidance to users, operation teams and vendors.

Lead and support solutions for complex problems based on facts, observations, experiences, and judgments.

Ensure all requirements of applicable regulatory agencies (federal, state, local) are always met and satisfied and certifications are current and lab equipment always maintained.

Keep all documents and reports of daily activities and attend leader meetings.

Implement biosafety, chemical safety, ergonomics and emergency response initiatives.

Conduct monthly inspections of laboratory, administrative areas, formal and informal audits and daily walk-throughs.

Work with lab leadership to develop and implement annual operations and ensure goals are met.

Ensure that the laboratory is adequately staffed and managed. Recruit, interview, and select lab personnel and team members as needed.

Hands-on experience culturing human and mouse primary cells including HEK293. Culturing viruses including Adenovirus.

Proficient in immunology and molecular biology techniques (qPCR, ELISA, multicolor flow cytometry, reporter cell line assay).

Worked in a fast-paced team environment.

Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

Attention to detail and work independently.

Excellent communication and organization skills.

Microbiology Lab Manager, 11/2022-3/2023

Prime Analytical Laboratory - Concord, CA

Managed, supervised and trained personnel to perform microbiological and other laboratory tasks in this start-up company.

Key Contributions:

Organized and equipped the lab including hiring competent team members.

Managed lab equipment including qualifications, calibration and maintenance.

Established protocols and operating procedures including generating and documenting procedures for microbiological monitoring.

Reviewed and approved laboratory testing documentation, maintenance of laboratory SOPs and validating documents for GMP lab test procedures and systems, in addition to preparing the lab to pass the ISO inspection and to become GMP certified.

Analyzed product materials and routings processes for cost development.

Routine microbiological monitoring of starting materials, finished products, and environmental control systems.

Concluded many overdue projects and increased revenues.

Oversee safety inspections, implement EHS programs and monitoring activities for compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements (Cal/OSHA, EPA, RCRA, DOT).

Vendor management, team development and management.

Project Lead/Scientist/Virologist, 5/2021-10/2022

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics – Berkeley, CA

Led a team of scientists to develop an exciting new technology using xCELLigence platform to determine viral titre from cancer patients who volunteered to be treated with gene therapy methods in clinical trials.

Key Contributions:

Developed and managed project plans, timelines, budgets and reports.

Hands-on experience culturing human cells such as human kidney cells.

Cultured vaccinia virus.

Proficient in immunology and molecular biology techniques (qPCR, ELISA, reporter cell line assay).

Worked in a fast-paced team environment.

Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

Excellent communication and organization skills.

Team development, training and management.

Biomedical Research Scientist/Lab supervisor, 12/2005 to 9/2021

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – Livermore, CA

Lead MM$ projects from inception to completion and ensured prompt delivery of products to customers.

Oversaw activities of technicians, technologists, and other scientists to ensure smooth flow of laboratory operations. Trained interns on lab techniques and oversight of their work to accomplish various lab tasks that augmented productivity of the organization, while achieving organizational goals and objectives through production of high-quality data.

Key Contributions:

Led a team of five scientists to carry out various tasks for successful accomplishment of DARPA funded projects.

Performed growth and titration of dengue viruses in cell culture, antiviral assays and microscopy in addition to RNA extractions, amplifications, and sequencing.

Spearheaded $15M project for generating an assay to detect viruses.

Took part in a MM$ dollar project aimed at protecting the country from bioterrorism.

Characterized regulations of 84 genes involved in the disease-causing pathways within the human innate immune response system upon infection with fastidious BSL3 organisms utilizing RT2 Profiler PCR panel.

Formulated safe transport system for fastidious pathogens to transport pathogens from field locations to laboratories (at room temperature) by leveraging environmental Acanthamoeba Castellanii.

Utilized BSL3 Francisella tularensis strains for characterizing innate immune response of human dendritic cells to infection.

Discovered 15 miRNAs responsible for filovirus infection in monkeys by performing various tasks, such as nucleic acid quantitation and expression profiling of ~900 mRNAs/miRNA (microRNAs) using Nanostring nCounter and laboratory protocols developed for both systems.

Nurtured viruses of both medical and veterinary importance (such as influenza, Adeno, and COVID-19) through plaque forming units and tissue culture doses (TCID50) as well as delivered quantitated virus stocks and nucleic acids to researchers.

Leveraged real time PCR to screen signatures in Taqman format against diverse environmental backgrounds in multiple matrices/target templates.

Characterized bacterial pathogens, such as virulent strains of Yersinia pestis and Bacillus anthracis, as well as host response to these pathogens by running proteomics assays.

Microbiologist II, 9/2001 to 12/2005

Viral & Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, Richmond, CA

Isolated and tracked human viruses in cell culture by leveraging variety of methods, including human cell cultures and human viral cultures, in addition to quantification, neutralization, EIA, ELISA, hemagglutination, hemagglutination inhibition, immunofluorescence, and PCR assays. Also worked on various research projects, such as rhinovirus asthma study, microarray, and vaccinia project in close collaborations with UCSF and LLNL. Additionally I conducted research to gather data for publications/posters.

Key Contributions:

Validated efficiency of new rabies testing procedure in close coordination with CDC.

Delivered exceptional guidance/training to public health microbiologists on rabies detection methods as well as enhancing their skills on detecting influenza virus by a specific identification assays.

Additional Experience as: Guest Researcher (Internship) at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researching and surveying influenza virus for vaccine determination.

Proven expertise and skilled in:

Propagation, perturbation and high-resolution analysis of mammalian cells and tissues including human and mouse cells, kidney cells, lung cells, vero cells A549…etc

Experienced in handling diverse oncological samples in vitro and in vivo, (solid tissues, tumors and/or whole blood).

Cell and Viral Cultures, expert in in-vitro microbiological techniques including Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV). Influenza virus, SARS, Vaccinia and HIV.

Aerobic and anaerobic microbiology.

BSL2, BSL3 & Select agent experience.

Influenza Strain Typing.

Molecular biology, Multiplexed qPCR in-vitro assay development & PCR Methodology.

RNA/DNA isolation from various tissues/cells from human, non-human primates, and rodents.

Targeted gene expression profiling using NanoString and other RT-qPCR systems.

Library preparation, Agilent Bioanalyzer and QC of samples for use with NGS platforms.

NGS sequencing Illumina MiSeq platforms.

DNA/RNA Isolation & Purification & Sequencing, including Chip-Seq and RNA-Seq, and Cloning.

Data Analysis, Assay Development & Experimental Design, and Documentation.

Hemagglutination Inhibition assay.

Flow Cytometry (FACS),Western Blotting, Immunology and ELISA, LC, HPLC, MS and GC assays; proteomics, protein and peptides.

Fluorescence, widefield, confocal and electron microscopy expertise.

Project/ Lab Operation Management.

Implemented EHS programs and regulatory requirements (Cal/OSHA, EPA, RCRA, DOT) and Managed hazardous waste streams.

Microbiology and environmental monitoring.

Cleanroom and raw material testing.

Sterility techniques expertise.

Staff Leadership and Training.

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

2017: Best poster presenter for my poster titled “A Novel Strategy to Eliminate Latent HIV Reservoir”. Presented during the Microbe Host Interaction Tahoe Symposium.

2013: LLNL Environmental Management System/Occupational Health & Safety Management System (EMS/OHSMS) Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of outstanding contribution to successful Surveillance Audit.

2011: LLNL Bioscience & Biotechnology Division (BBTD) Spot Award for Safety Awareness & Diligence.

2009: LLNL Mentor of the Year Award.

2008: LLNL Directorate Award in recognition of the work on TaqMan Assay Development.

PUBLICATIONS

Sanjiv R. Shah, Staci R. Kane, Maher Elsheikh, and Teneile M. Alfarob. (2021). Development of a rapid viability RT-PCR (RV-RT-PCR) method to detect infectious SARS-CoV-2 from swabs. J Virol Methods. 2021 Nov; 297: 114251. doi: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114251

Maher M. Elsheikh, Yuyang Tang, Dajiang Li, Guochun Jiang. (2019). Deep latency: A new insight into a functional HIV cure. EBioMedicine, The LANCET; Volume 45, July 2019, Pages 624-629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.06.020

Guochun Jiang, Emanual Maverakis, Michelle Y. Cheng, Maher M. Elsheikh, Claire Deleage, Gema Méndez-Lagares, Michiko Shimoda, Steven A. Yukl, Dennis J. Hartigan-O’Connor, George R. Thompson III, Jacob D. Estes, Joseph K. Wong, and Satya Dandekar. (2019). Disruption of latent HIV in vivo during the clearance of actinic keratosis by ingenol mebutate. JCI Insight. 2019;4(7): e126027. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.126027

Sangil Kim, Dietrich Dehlinger, José Peña, Hyang Seol, Maxim Shusteff, Nicole M. Collette, Maher Elsheikh, Matthew Davenport, Pejman Naraghi Arani, Elizabeth Wheeler. (2019). Virus concentration and purification by a microfluidic filtering system with an integrated PEGylated antifouling membrane. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics (2019) 23:9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-018-2173-y

Guochun Jiang, Don Nguyen, Nancie M. Archin, Steven A. Yukl, Gema Méndez-Lagares, Yuyang Tang, Maher M. Elsheikh, George R. Thompson III, Dennis J. Hartigan-O’Connor, David M. Margolis, Joseph K. Wong, and Satya Dandekar. (2018). HIV latency is reversed by ACSS2-driven histone crotonylation. J Clin Invest. 2018;128(3):1190-1198. doi:10.1172/JCI98071.

José Peña, Haiyin Chen-Harris, Jonathan E. Allen, Mona Hwang, Maher Elsheikh, Shalini Mabery, Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann, Adam T. Zemla, Richard A. Bowen, and Monica K. Borucki. (2016). Sendai virus intra-host population dynamics and host immunocompetence influence viral virulence during in vivo passage. Virus Evolution, 2(1), vew008. http://doi.org/10.1093/ve/vew008

Shea N. Gardner, Crystal J. Jaing, Maher M Elsheikh, José Peña, David A. Hysom, and Monica K. Borucki. (2014). Multiplex Degenerate Primer Design for Targeted Whole Genome Amplification of Many Viral Genomes, Advances in Bioinformatics, vol. 2014, Article ID 101894. doi:10.1155/2014/101894.

Dietrich Dehlinger, Lynn Suer, Maher Elsheikh, José Peña and Pejman Naraghi-Arani. (2013). Dye Free Automated Cell Counting and Analysis, Biotechnology and Bioengineering journal, doi:10.1002/bit.24757

Brett A Chromy, Maher Elsheikh, Tova L Christensen, Doug Livingston, Kyle Petersen, Jane P Bearinger, and Paul D Hoeprich. (August 2012). Repurposing screens identify rifamycins as potential broad-spectrum therapy for multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and select agent microorganisms. Future Microbiology, Vol. 7, No. 8, Pages 1011-1020. (doi: 10.2217/fmb.12.75)

Hysom DA, Naraghi-Arani P, Elsheikh M, Carrillo AC, Williams PL, Gardner SN. (2012). Skip the Alignment: Degenerate, Multiplex Primer and Probe Design Using K-mer Matching Instead of Alignments. PLoS ONE 7(4): e34560. doi:10.1371/ journal. pone.0034560

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