Mara L. Jeffress, Ph.D.

Objective

A challenging position that allows me to creatively use my diverse skills in research, medicine, and business.

Summary

Over 10 years of molecular and cell biology research experience in academia, government and industry. Specialist in oncology, cell signaling, target identification, drug resistance and cancer biomarkers.

Unusual amount of business experience in both small and large companies for a recent Ph.D. graduate. Past positions include administration, research, business development and management.  Solid experience coordinating and managing a wide range of projects in fast-paced environments.

Exceptional written, verbal, interpersonal, and team skills.

Proven ability to work with scientists and non-scientists from multiple disciplines and at multiple levels.

An energetic self-starter, who thrives in an innovative, results-focused environment.

International experience includes living and working in Mexico, Singapore, Nepal and Australia. Strong desire to learn new languages. Willing and able to travel.                                   

Education

Ph.D. Molecular & Cellular Biology,University of Washington, Seattle.
Dissertation: “Identification of putative P. falciparum mefloquine resistance genes”
GPA 3.65/4.0

B.A. Honors Biology, with specialty in Biochemistry. University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
Thesis: “Identification and characterization of novel retinal protein in the pineal gland of the California River Lamprey"
GPA 3.95/4.0

B.A. Philosophy. University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
Awarded High Honors on Philosophy Senior Comprehensive Examination.

Special Achievement: Asked by Biology Dept. to design and teach new Bioethics class, during senior year.

Awards and Honors

Elected President, Association of Women in Science (AWIS), East Bay Chapter (2007-2010).
siRNA Consortium Opportunity Award, The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (2008).
Elected Vice President, Association of Women in Science (AWIS), East Bay Chapter (2006-2007).
Invited participant (top 10%), Insight Healthcare, McKinsey & Co., Park City, Utah (2006).
Christine Mirazayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, National Academy of Science (2005).
Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy Congressional Travel Award, (2004).
Graduate School Fund for Excellence and Innovation Award, UW (2003).
Scholarship Recipient, Keystone Symposia, Malaria’s Challenge (2002).
Award for Medical Service, Helping Hands Nepal, Khandbari Hospital, Nepal (1996).

Professional Achievements

Project Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 2010-present
Dr. Joe Gray Laboratory, Department of Cancer Biology in the Life Sciences Division.
* Investigating breast cancer cellular signaling networks for drug resistance and drug discovery applications.
* Actively participating in large multi-site program project that integrates computer and experimental biologists at centers across the United States, with a direct role in biomarker validation.
* Leading and managing cross-functional teams of laboratory technicians engaged in large-scale projects.
* Collaborating with industry partners to develop cancer biomarkers for clinical trials use.
* Organized and conducted two local and two national scientific conferences, as meeting chair.

Licensing Intern, Office of Technology Licensing, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA,                                 2009-2010
* Supporting ongoing campaigns in licensing UC Berkeley technologies in diverse technical areas.
* Developed non-confidential disclosures of inventions for marketing to potential licensees.
* Maintaining database of licensing opportunities and marketing efforts.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 2006 - 2010
Dr. Paul Yaswen Laboratory, Department of Cancer Biology in the Life Sciences Division.
* Investigating breast cancer cellular signaling networks for enhanced drug discovery.
* Conducting studies to elucidate the mechanisms of action of novel drug targets in cancer cells.
* Actively participating in large multi-site program project that integrates computer and experimental biologists, with a direct role in biomarker validation using RNAi and cell-based assays.
* Collaborating with industry partners to develop biomarkers for clinical trials use.

Owner, Mara Jeffress Consulting, Oakland, CA, 2004-2010
* Founded own company and developed client base, while in graduate school earning a science Ph.D.
* Five clients included small business owners ($100K/yr) in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, education and services industries.
* Assisted clients in setting priorities and business and financial goals, increasing profits by 25-100%.
* Identified opportunities for strategic alliances and provided marketing and advertising support.  

Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher, California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, 2005
Dr. Garret Yount Laboratory, Department of Cancer Biology
* Installed and validated a human PCR array assay platform for measuring transcript levels in primary human blood cells for future use in immunological and cancer clinical trials.

Science & Technology Policy Postdoctoral Fellow, The National Academies , Washington D.C., 2005
Board of Science Technology & Economic Policy and Program for Science Technology and Law
* Analyzed global patent and intellectual property trends of genomics and proteomics.
* Assisted expert committee in daily policy study activities: prepared regular reports and presentations; summarized key activities, progress and issues; worked effectively with a diverse team of legal, academic and business experts.
* Provided analytical and research support to enhance decision-making and recommendation development: gathered data; generated and maintained database; prepared regular reports; wrote chapter of final report to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2004
Ph.D. Candidate, 1998-2004
Dr. Stanley Fields Laboratory, Departments of Genome Sciences & Medical Genetics, HHMI
* Independently studied mechanisms of malaria drug resistance.
* Developed high thru-put proteomic technology to study malaria as part of a team.
* Discovered novel drug-resistance genes, aiding in future anti-malarial drug development.
* Developed new widely-applicable genome-wide assay for drug resistance genes.
* Published first-author paper in peer-reviewed journal and invited to write review article.
* Promoted to postdoctoral researcher on successful completeion of Ph.D.

Research Assoc. II, Chiron Corp., Emmeryville, CA., 1997-1998
* Developed HIV clinical diagnostics assay as part of a small research team.
* Presented weekly reports to associates, senior scientists and upper management.
* Wrote most protocols and technical documents for team.
* Only Research Associate chosen to join new products strategy development group.

Volunteer Achievements

President, East Bay Association for Women in Science , Berkeley CA, 2007-2010
* Managed internal processes, timelines and budget of local chapter of national professional organization.
* Organized and facilitated meetings, issued agendas and minutes, tracked progress of  eight committees.
* Developed processes and systems to manage project documentation.
* Defined roles and responsibilities of committee chairs and volunteers.
* Increased attendance by 50% through increased marketing and advertising and website development.
* Recruited and managed a team of 12 volunteers and 5 member board in consensus organization.

Program Director, East Bay Association for Women in Science, Berkeley CA, 2006-2010
* Developed, marketed and conducted bi-monthly professional seminar and scientific series.

Marketing and Outreach Ambassador, California Shakespere Theater Company, Berkeley CA, 2006-2009
* Marketed and sold tickets for nationally acclaimed theater company to patrons 35 and under.
* Outsold all other members of Ambassador team.

Director of Development, 1000 Miles for Medical Aid, Orinda, CA, 2005
* Developed and implemented fund raising hike-a-thon for medical aid in the third world.
* Wrote press releases, managed public relations, gave interviews to the press.
* Secured sponsorship funding from both corporate and private donors.
* Completed 1000 mile solo wilderness hike in 2 months, raising ~$3000.
* News articles, including 2 front page features, appeared in: The San Franscisco Chronicle, The Marin Independent Journal, The Contra Costa Sun, Backpacking Today Online, December Trail, Canada Reporter Daily, Nepal Daily News, UCSC Chemistry News, Washington Alpine Club Newsletter, Columns Magazine.

Cook/Server, Miriam’s Kitchen for the Homeless, Washington, DC, 2005

Committee Co-Chair, Bioscience Career Seminar Series, UW, Seattle, 2002-2004
* Organized and coordinated monthly career seminar for biological scientists
* Invited speakers, arranged travel, planned 19 seminars, and raised funds.
* Scheduled and facilitated meetings, prepared minutes, and managed timelines and budget.
* Designed and maintained seminar website: http://courses.washington.edu/phd
* Raised $15,000 annually from multiple sources.

Science Judge, Lakeside School panel, Lakeside School, Seattle, WA., 2000 & 2001
Science Judge, Edmonds Science Night, Edmonds High School, WA., 2001

Science Mentor, Hutch High, Science Ed. Partnership, FHCRC, Seattle, WA., 2001
Science Mentor, Gear-Up leader, Program for minority students, UW, 2000-2001

Medical Assistant, Haight-Asbury Free Medical Clinic, San Francisco, CA., 1994-1999
* Worked in close contact with patients both independently and with nurses and doctors in Emergency Service and semi-theater situations.

Medical Assistant, Khandbari Hospital, Khandbari, NEPAL., 1996
* Observed and assessed sterile protocols in third world hospital.

Publications

Jeffress, M. et al.  Loss of Mek2, but not Mek1, increases proliferation and migration of malignant and non- malignant human breast cells, (in preparation).

Jeffress, M. et al.  A novel role for Mek5 in Erk signaling, (in progress).

Das, D. et al.  In vitro Systems Approaches to Identification of Molecular Markers that Predict Clinical Response to Lapatinib, (in preparation, planned submission to Nature Medicine).

Tilghman, S. et al. “Reaping the Benefits of Genomic and Proteomic Research: Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation, and Public Health”, National Academies , National Research Council, 2006.

Jeffress, M. Uncovering the Secrets of Washington Policy. in In Focus, Vol. 5, No. 2, The National Academies, 2005

Jeffress, M & Fields, S. Identification of putative P. falciparum Mefloquine resistance genes,
Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2005 Feb;139(2):133-9. PubMed Abstract

Conference Presentations

UCSF Breast Oncology Program Retreat, San Francsico, CA - January 2010
“Differential effects of Mek1 and Mek2 inhibition on cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”

AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, Boston, MA - November 2009
“Differential effects of Mek1 and Mek2 inhibition on cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”

Integrative Cancer Biology Program Junior Investigators Meeting, National Cancer Institute, Berkley, CA- October 2009
* Organizing committee chair

Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Life Science Division Retreat, Oakland, Ca - September 2009 (invited talk)
"In vitro Systems Approaches to Identification of Molecular Markers that Predict Clinical Response to Lapatinib."
* Abstract selected by committee for invited talk

siRNA Consortium Meeting, San Francisco, CA - June 2009
“Predicting Cancer Drug Resistance: A Systems Biology Approach.”

siRNA Consortium Meeting, Berkeley, CA - January 2009
“RNAi knockdown of Mek2, but not Mek1, increases cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”
* scholarship recipient

Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Life Science Division Retreat, Oakland, Ca - September 2008
"RNAi knockdown of Mek2, but not Mek1, increases cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells."
Organizing committee member, Session-chair

Integrative Cancer Biology Program Junior Investigators Meeting, National Cancer Institute, Cambridge, MA - August 2008
“Differential effects of Mek1 and Mek2 inhibition on cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”
Organizing committee member

siRNA Consortium Meeting, Berkeley, CA - August 2008
Organizing committee Co-Chair

siRNA Consortium Meeting, San Deigo, CA - April 2008
“Differential effects of Mek1 and Mek2 inhibition on cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”

Plexxikon Corp. , Berkeley, CA - November 2007 (invited talk)
“Differential effects of Mek1 and Mek2 inhibition on cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”

AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, San Francisco, CA - October 2007
“Differential effects of Mek1 and Mek2 inhibition on cellular proliferation of malignant and non-malignant human breast cells.”

Integrative Cancer Biology Program Junior Investigators Meeting, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD - October 2007
* Session-chair

siRNA Consortium Meeting, San Francisco, CA - August 2007
"RNAi-mediated delineation of Raf-Mek-Erk signaling specificity in human breast cells."

Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Life Science Division Retreat, Oakland, Ca - November 2006
"Identifying Genes Involved in Resistance to Mek Inhibitors in Breast Cancer"
* Organizing committee member, Session-chair

Seattle Protozoology Conference, Seattle, WA
“ Identification of putative mefloquine resistance genes P. falciparum” - May 2004
“ Idenification of genes that affect sensitivity to the antimalrial drug mefloquine” - March 2003
“ Idenifying genes which affect sensitivity to the antimalrial drug mefloquine” - March 2001

Molecular Approaches to Malaria, Lorne, Australia - February 2004
“ A yeast screen for P. falciparum mefloquine resistance genes”

MCB Symposium, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA - October 2003
Session-chair

Malaria’s Challenge & Drugs Against Tropical Protozoan Parasites, Keystone, CO - March 2002
“ A yeast screen for Plasmodium falciparum mefloquine resistance genes”
* scholarship recipient

Other Skills

Languages: Basic: Japanese, French, Indonesian/Malay & Nepali
Computer: PC, Mac, some UNIX; MS Office, genetic and network analysis programs
Web & Graphics: HTML, Dreamweaver, Adobe Creative Suite, formally trained photographer

Professional Associations

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Women in Cancer Research (WICR)
Coalition for Life Sciences (CLS)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Associate for Women in Science (AWIS) - National and East Bay chapter

Genetics Society of America (GSA) * ex-member
American Society of Microbiologists (ASM) * ex-member

Personal References

In order to protect the privacy of those serving as references, they are not listed here but are available upon request.