I’m a parasite immunologist by training, a scientist at heart and recently confirmed data junkie. This blog is a bit of a mashup of my journey from a bench scientist into management, what I’m learning about lab data in clinical trials and the newest thinking on data standards and governance.
A very short summary of the road so far is: BS in biotechnology from Rutgers University followed by work in drug discovery then a MS in Public Health Microbiology at George Washington University (GWU). From there I work for the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative before moving to a fellowship at the CDC. I went from my fellowship to getting my PhD, again at GWU, with my research done in a parasitology lab at the NIH. I spent a few short months at the FDA after completing my PhD, moved across country to do a fellowship at the Gates Foundation and am now the Senior Manager for the Lab Data Management Unit at a statistical and data management center supporting clinical trials.
My goal with this blog is to use my personal experiences (the good and the bad) to help others interested in using their PhD in a slightly different way than the accepted norm and to discuss issues around management of laboratory data in clinical trials. I want to use this platform to educate and spur discussion on everything from getting that first job out of grad school to what are the best practices for ensuring quality laboratory data. Feel free to share, comment, contact me, but always keep it civil.
