Engineering Assistant

AYSEGUL ERGIN, PhD

Arlington, MA ***** . *************@*****.*** . U.S. Permanent Resident

http://www.linkedin.com/in/shegul

OBJECTIVE

Seeking a senior scientist/engineering position in biotechnology industry where my experience in biomedical engineering, biomedical optics and broad knowledge of design, development and testing medical devices, characterization studies on pharmaceuticals and development of quantification algorithms with excellent analytical and technical skills could be utilized.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Boston University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Optics Lab., Boston, MA

Postdoctoral Research Associate May 2008-present

Monitored diffusion kinetics of intraarterial dyes and chemotherapy drugs in brain tissue, using high speed optical measurements based on diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to detect blood-brain disruption and improve site-specific drug delivery.

Conducted in vivo (rabbit and mouse) and in vitro (tissue phantoms) experiments for optical pharmacokinetics studies.

Improving the analysis algorithm used for optical absorption measurements, analyzed post-experimental spectral data to determine the change in absorption parameters due to presence of chromophores.

Characterized the optical properties of drug-carrier complexes (mitoxantrone containing liposomes) to be able to detect and quantify localized drug concentration.

Designed and create a dynamic tissue phantom system for optical studies of drug extravasation kinetics.

Designed and manufactured fiber optic probes to be used in vivo and in vitro studies of light scattering and absorption.

Assisted in vivo experiments to optically monitor tumor angiogenesis.

New Jersey Institute of Technology Department of Biomedical Engineering, Newark, NJ

Research Assistant May 2002-January 2008

Developed an optical glucometer composed of a portable Raman spectrometer and a fiber optic probe that non-invasively measures the glucose level in the aqueous humor of the eye for frequent measurements of glucose in blood.

Carried out in vitro studies using an optical non-invasive instrument based on a Raman spectrometer, to detect precursor protein accumulation in the lens of the eye for earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

Designed and performed in vitro experiments by applying vibrational spectroscopy techniques to detect and quantify the chemical bands, the chemical depositions and changes on excised porcine, rabbit eye and transgenic mouse eye tissue structures (aqueous humor, lens, cornea, vitreous and iris).

ETHICON Inc., R&D Analytical Characterization Group, Somerville, NJ

Research Scientist Intern June 2006-September 2007

Conducted studies on wound management products for material stability, detection and quantification of active ingredients in polymers, on proteins and in vitro animal tissue using confocal Raman microscopy and FT-NIR spectroscopy techniques.

Developed algorithms using multivariate data analysis tools to be applied to spectral data sets to quantify the optically detected active ingredients.

SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGIES

Laboratory: Diffuse reflectance, elastic scattering, Raman, enhanced Raman and FT-NIR spectroscopy, confocal Raman microscopy, spectrophotometer, electronic measurement devices.

Computer: MATLAB, Simulink, Origin, Statistica,LabVIEW, Inkscape, Paint Shop Pro.

EDUCATION

New Jersey Institute of Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Newark, NJ

Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering, 2008

Developed and characterized an optical glucometer to detect glucose levels in eye using Raman spectroscopy.

Bogazici University, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering, 2002

Developed time-frequency signal analysis techniques to classify temporomandibular joint sounds of orthodontic patients.

Istanbul University, Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey

Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering, 1998

Boston University, School of Management, Health Sector Management Program, Boston, MA

Attended Fall 2008 Bench-to-Bedside Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace Course: Studied intellectual property, licensing, the core aspects of planning, funding and building new entrepreneurial ventures to evaluate a translational research project and its potential for transformation into a start-up company to commercialize the technology.

Worked in an interdisciplinary team of engineering and MBA students to evaluate the commercialization potential of a platform for a computer-assisted, minimally-invasive steerable surgical instrument.

Conducted intellectual property search, technology analysis, market research and financial projection to evaluate the go to market strategy.

Meet with the inventors and offered recommendations based on the commercial market interest, competing technologies, and barriers to market entry.

TEACHING AND OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

Elsevier B.V., Student Ambassador for Scopus Scientific Database, Newark, NJ 2005-2006

New Jersey Institute of Technology, Teaching Assistant, Newark, NJ 2005-2006

Yeditepe University, Principle Teaching and Laboratory Assistant Istanbul, Turkey 1998-2002

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Ergin, A., Wang, M., Zhang J., Bruce, J.N. Fine, R.L., Joshi, S., Bigio, I.J., “The Feasibility of Real-Time In Vivo Optical Detection of Blood Brain Barrier Disruption with Indocyanine Green,” J. Neurooncol., Oct., 2011, DOI:10.1007/s11060-011-0711-52011.

Ergin, A., Wang, M., Joshi, S., Bigio, I.J., Optical Monitoring of Tracers and Mitoxantrone in Rabbit Brain and the Variability in Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption, Optical Molecular Probes, Imaging and Drug Delivery Meeting, Optical Society of America, April 4-6, 2011, Monterey, CA, USA.

Ergin, A., Zhang, Y.J., Andken, K.L., Sheng, C., Bigio, J.I.: “Design of a Dynamic Optical Tissue Phantom to Model Drug Extravasation Pharmacokinetics,” Proceedings of the IEEE 35th NEBEC, April 3-5, 2009, Boston, MA, USA.

Ergin, A., Thomas, G.A.: “Non-invasive Detection of Glucose in Porcine Eye,” Proceedings of the 31PstP Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC), April 2-3, 2005, Hoboken, NJ, USA.

AWARDS AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Student Achievement Award, NJIT Graduate Student Association, Spring 2004

SPIE Scholarship Award Winner, 2006

Member of SPIE Women in Optics Group

Member of Optical Society of America

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