Devon Andres

My experience before graduate and post-graduate research opportunities included a co-op internship as a lab technician to Upjohn Pharmaceutical and a position as a quality control technician at Genesee Polymers Corp. As a co-op student at Upjohn (now Pfizer), I was in the Quality Control Biotechnology Support Unit working under Dr. Kiyoshi Tsuiji. There I assisted in the standardizing of capillary gel electrophoresis for quality control testing for a specific drug product. I compared this technology to HPLC and SDS-PAGE methods that were being utilized by the Upjohn’s QC department. This research was used as my Honors College Thesis at Western Michigan University titled “SDS Non-Acrylamide Polymeric gel-filled capillary electrophoresis for molecular size separation of protein.” I also assisted in assay development and validation for quality control protocols, using GLP standards. My two years as the Quality Control technician at Genesee Polymers Corp, I used many analytical chemistry techniques that included HPLC for size exclusion chromatography, infra-red spectrophotometry, and gas chromatography. These techniques were utilized for GC testing of raw materials, in-process samples, and final specialty polymer products. I have always been interested in the immune system and its interactions with all of the systems of the body and the sensitivity and responsiveness to our internal and external environments. I was able to explore this interest during while in my doctoral program at Oakland University. Under Dr. Denis Callewaert’s mentorship, I studied the effects of glucocorticoids on different subsets of lymphocytes. This research utilized many aspects of biochemistry and immunochemistry to understand the mechanism of how physiological levels of cortisol and pharmacological levels of glucocorticoids caused immunosuppression, specifically on regulation of different granzymes. . My doctoral dissertation was titled “Further molecular characterization of the effects of glucocorticoids on granzymes tryptases within NK Cells,” which includes all the work that was accomplished. I also had the opportunity to be involved in a Small Business Innovative Research Grant with Oxford Biomedical Research Corp. to develop new and novel analytical kits to test and analysis the levels of multiple cytokines and transcription factors from various types of samples I accepted a National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Radharaman Ray at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) located on the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. My postdoctoral NRC project was a US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) funded project titled “Evaluation of short peptide inhibitors to counteract botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT/A) poisoning in vitro and in vivo.” During the project, I was mainly responsible for establishing and optimizing assays and cell lines for in vitro studies to determine the efficacies and cytotoxicity of three peptide inhibitors of BoNT/A. This included observing and characterizing cell models to be used for BoNT/A research as well as implementing new methods for detection of BoNT enzymatic activity and optimizing different neurotransmitter release assays that are needed for BoNT research. Following my NRC fellowship, I continued to do research at USAMRICD as a principal investigator. My primary duty is to formulate rational concepts and design and perform experimental research on model development and mechanism studies with a goal to understand chemical toxicity and develop therapeutic approaches to counteract chemical injury for both warfare and industrial chemicals. I am currently involved in six research projects as a co-investigator. These research projects include (1) collaborative core of principal investigators studying different aspects of phosgene gas cytotoxicity in pulmonary cells and systemic cytotoxicity of phosphine gas, (2) two emerging threats that are reported to be respiratory toxicants, (3) in vitro model development for nerve agent research, and (3) study on the immunomodulatory effects of nerve agents in adolescent rats. In my current research studies I have been able to establish that the store operated calcium entry is involved in respiratory injury and lethality of phosgene gas and another respiratory toxicant, both in vitro and in vivo. I am currently investigating several different drug treatment strategies that have become apparent with our findings. I have also studied the Fas-mediated pathway pathogenic mechanism of cell injury in rat lung following inhalation exposure to sulfur mustard, which confirms our in vitro results that were reported. In summary, I have a demonstrated record of accomplished and productive research projects in an area of model development, toxicity studies, and therapeutic development, and my expertise and experience have prepared me to be an active principal investigator.