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Through an 18 year career at California Biotechnology, Scios Inc., and Johnson & Johnson, Expert has gained extensive experience in the molecular biology of recombinant protein production especially in microbial systems such as E. coli (inclusion body and soluble), Pichia pastoris, and S. cerevisiae. During his leadership of the protein expression group at Scios (a JNJ Company) he was responsible for IND-enabling development of expression systems for clinical testing of biologics, as well as production of proteins for use as small molecule drug screening targets. In the latter role, Expert pursued many eukaryotic and mammalian expression systems as well including insect cells using the baculovirus expression system and CHO (mammalian) cell systems based on stable expression from CMV or GS promoters, or using Epstein Barr virus vectors for rapid semi-stable transient protein expression. He has also led cross-functional drug development projects from pre-clinical research though IND-filing and has an active consulting practice in this area.

Expert’s broader drug development interests have been in the area of wound healing and angiogenesis through his work on VEGF or vascular endothelial growth factor (1 paper, 2 patents/applications), cardiac peptide hormones such as the natriuretic peptides (1 patent application, 2 papers), and growth factors such as Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor or HB-EGF (1 paper).

Expert holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN and a B.S. in Chemistry with honors from the University of Georgia. He was a postdoctoral fellow at SUNY, Stony Brook (now Stony Brook University) and a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway.

Working as a consultant, Expert took an important management position with a promising biotech company, leading its Process Sciences team to develop manufacturing processes for an oral biologic (see http://www.trinitybiosystems.com/about/management.html). A small and growing developer of small molecule anticoagulant drugs turned to Expert to help them take advantage of a discovery that offered an opportunity to develop a biologic. Expert helped the company, which did not have internal molecular biology or protein expression expertise, to explore recombinant protein expression options and develop an E. coli expression system.A start up biotech had in-licensed its first product, a biologic expressed in E. coli, from a well known university. The expression system had several deficiencies and the company lacked the needed molecular biology or protein expression expertise to correct them. Expert designed and had a third-party vendor synthesize an expression system which was better suited to industrial manufacturing than the system obtained from the academic laboratory. In addition, Expert assisted with interpretation of genetic characterization of the host organism required by FDA.A small biotech had just gone public and received an infusion of a large amount of capital. Eager to make rapid progress, the company started numerous drug development projects but couldn’t recruit the needed drug development leadership quickly enough to keep each of its project teams on track. One of the teams in particular, was struggling with a difficult preclinical development path. Expert was brought in to take over the leadership of the preclinical team and coordinate preclinical model development and toxicology studies.A small biotech company developing several antibody therapeutics was challenged with the need to manage numerous early drug development project teams. Expert was brought in to help each of the teams coordinate efforts of various functional groups involved and institute appropriate project management practices.