BTEC - Key Persons
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- NC State Plant and Microbial Biology
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- NC State
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- Instructional Media Developer
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Director of Academic Programs
A professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Dr. Bala Rao serves as BTEC's director of Academic Programs. In this role, Dr. Rao leads BTEC's existing academic programs and the development of new programs and curriculum.
Dr. Rao's research group focuses on two areas: molecular mechanisms regulating early human placental development, with emphasis on use of human embryonic stem cells derived from in vitro models; and molecular recognition using non-antibody proteins and peptides, with emphasis on building novel tools for cell biology applications.
Prior to joining NC State in 2005, Dr. Rao completed postdoctoral work at the University of Toronto. He obtained his doctorate in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Assistant Director of Academic Programs
- NC State
Dr. Danny Monroe is the assistant director of academic programs at BTEC. He recruits and advises students seeking master's degrees in biomanufacturing or graduate certificates in either upstream or downstream biomanufacturing. Dr. Monroe has over 10 years of experience in higher education instruction, leadership, and student advising. Prior to joining BTEC, he served as head of the Department of Natural Sciences at Wake Tech Community College and as program head for bioprocess technology at Vance-Granville Community College. He received his doctorate in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008 and his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Virginia Tech in 2001.
Job Titles:
- Research Program Manager at the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center
Dr. Deepa Sambandan is the research program manager at the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) at North Carolina State University. She received her Ph.D. in Genetics from NC State University and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship from the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NC. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). As the Research Program Manager, Dr. Sambandan manages BTEC's research projects funded by the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). She is also the program manager for BTEC's Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Interest Group (BMIG) initiatives that focuses on increasing research partnerships between academia and industry in the field of biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
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- Director of Industry Programs and Research
Dr. Jennifer Pancorbo is Director of Industry Programs and Research at BTEC, where she continuously builds the center's relationship with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries through the programs she leads: Bioprocess Services, Bioprocess Research, and the Professional Development program.
Dr. Pancorbo is responsible for courses in pharmaceutical production and supports professional development courses in both upstream and downstream processing. In addition, she functioned as project coordinator for BTEC's international influenza vaccine manufacturing program.
She has over 15 years of experience in biomanufacturing, five of these focused in the vaccine manufacturing field, particularly in developing downstream purification processes and optimizing upstream production strategies for vector vaccines. Currently, Dr. Pancorbo is focusing on modernizing the mRNA production process, looking for a more efficient, scalable and sustainable method of manufacturing.
Dr. Pancorbo has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and a doctorate in chemical and biochemical engineering, where she focused on the design and development of targeted drug delivery.
Dr. John Sheppard taught as a Professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada from 1989 until 2005 when he joined NC State University as a Visiting Professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at NC State and teaches in the Bioprocessing Science major, with specific expertise in upstream processes and validation.
As part of his teaching experience, Dr. Sheppard has delivered several professional development courses through both the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering and the ASME. His research has focused on the development of microbial fermentation processes applied to food, fuel and biopharmaceuticals, resulting in more than 40 refereed publications and two patents with two more currently pending. He is a registered Professional Engineer since 1980 and frequently consults for companies within the biotechnology sector.
Dr. John van Zanten is an assistant teaching professor at BTEC. He teaches BEC 330, Principles and Applications of Bioseparations, which is part of BTEC's core curriculum for the undergraduate minor in biomanufacturing, and the graduate course BEC 532, Biologic Processing Science. He also co-directs the QC/Analytical course that is provided annually under contract to U.S. Food and Drug Administration personnel. He is also developing a bioprocess control laboratory module for undergraduate chemical engineering students.
Before coming to BTEC in 2007, Dr. van Zanten worked for 15 years in federal laboratories and academic institutions such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Johns Hopkins University and North Carolina State University. He has more than 25 years of experience in colloidal and macromolecular physical chemistry, biophysics and particle sizing in both national laboratories and academic institutions and has led research efforts in liposome formulation, nonviral gene delivery vector assembly and protein aggregation, as well as more traditional colloid, polymer and surfactant systems.
He obtained a bachelor of science and doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles and received additional training as a National Research Council postdoctoral research associate at NIST.
Dr. Kirill Efimenko received a M.Sc. degree in physics of polymers and dielectrics from Belarusian State University 1996 (Minsk, Belarus) and a Ph.D. in Material Science and Technology from Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague Czech republic in 1999. Shortly after that he joined a Department of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University as Postdoctoral Fellow. He was promoted to the Senior Research Associate position in 2002 (joint appointment between CBE at NC State University and Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science). In 2007 he was appointed to a position of Research Assistant Professor in the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Research Interests
Stimuli responsive polymer materials
Functionalized siloxane materials
Self-assembly and directed assembly
Biofouling
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Fermentation and Cell Line Development
Dr. Kurt Selle is serving as the assistant director of fermentation and cell line development at BTEC and is responsible for the technical and operational oversight of cell line development, small scale and large scale fermentation activities at BTEC. He originally joined BTEC in 2020 as a senior scientist supporting the Accelerated Innovation in Manufacturing Biologics (AIM-Bio) program. Previously, he was a lead scientist and manager at Locus Biosciences and was responsible for establishing a synthetic biology platform for early drug development, intellectual property generation, and clinical readiness of a first-in-class recombinant phage biologic. His research experience bridges the disciplines of bacteriology, phage and CRISPR biology, molecular genetics, biotechnology, and high-throughput data technologies, applying those competencies across probiotic, pathogenic, and fermentative bacteria towards understanding fermentation microbiology and improving human-microbe interactions.
Dr. Marcello Fidaleo is an associate professor in the Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems at the University of Tuscia, Italy, where he teaches unit operations and design and analysis of experiments for the food industry.
His research interests include modeling of membrane processes and enzymatic and microbial processes in the area of food biotechnology. He has carried out research as a visiting scholar at the Biotechnology Institute of the University of Minnesota and as a Fulbright scholar at NC State's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Dr. Fidaleo holds a master's degree in chemical engineering from the Sapienza University of Rome and a doctorate in food biotechnology from the University of Tuscia.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- NC State
Greg Buhrman, Ph.D., is an analytical scientist at BTEC. He is an experienced protein biochemist with a background in protein crystallography and structural biology in general. Dr. Buhrman earned his Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, his M.S. in Biomedical Research from Hood College, and his Ph.D. in Molecular and Structural Biochemistry from North Carolina State University under the direction of Dr. Carla Mattos.
Dr. Buhrman has deposited over fifty structures in the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB). His current research interest is focused on adapting enzymes from extremophiles for biomanufacturing use. Carbonic anhydrase from the psychrohalophile Photobacterium profundum and 2-Oxoglutarate carboxylase from the thermophile Hydrogenobacter thermophilus are two enzymes in this research interest area he has worked and published on recently.
Hayley Flores, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at BTEC responsible for teaching upstream biomanufacturing courses to NC State students and industry professionals. Her technical expertise includes microbial physiology and fermentation, cell banking, and assay development.
Prior to joining BTEC, Dr. Flores spent more than 12 years in the biotechnology industry at Novozymes and start-ups Algenol Biotech and Biomason. While at these companies she led cross-functional R&D teams dedicated to microbial new product development in the areas of agriculture, animal health, biofuels, and construction materials. Dr. Flores has a B.S. in Biology from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences from North Carolina State University.
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- CPIP
- North American Education Advisor to the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering
Jeff Odum, a globally recognized subject matter expert in biomanufacturing facilities, is currently the practice lead for ATMPs* and Biologics at Genesis AEC, a design and construction firm that serves the life sciences industry. A Certified Pharmaceutical Industry Professional (CPIP), he has over 30 years of experience in the design, construction, and operation of facilities in the biotechnology industry.
A recognized expert in biopharmaceutical manufacturing assets, Mr. Odum has authored more than 60 articles and four reference books on subjects related to project management, GMP compliance, process improvement, and the design and construction of biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. He regularly speaks at international industry forums and conferences, presenting on topics relating to next-generation facility design, bioprocess manufacturing, project management, and GMP compliance.
Mr. Odum has served as the North American education advisor to the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) and has led development teams for industry baseline and reference guides focused on ATMPs and biotechnology manufacturing and project management. He is a member of the ISPE global technical training faculty where he develops and delivers biomanufacturing-focused course content. He has led training efforts in 15 countries, including training for global regulators from the U.S. FDA, Health Canada, Thailand FDA, and the Chinese SFDA.
He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Technological University and a master's degree in engineering with a minor in engineering management from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
Laurie Overton is a Senior Scientist at BTEC. She is responsible for teaching upstream bioprocessing courses to NC State students and industry professionals and managing BTEC's cell culture lab to support classes and bioprocessing service projects. Prior to joining BTEC, she directed large-scale production of recombinant proteins and antibodies (expressed in bacteria, yeast, insect, and mammalian cells) at GlaxoSmithKline. During her 25-year career, she gained extensive hands-on process development experience with cell culture scale up in stainless steel vessels and single-use bioreactors. She also had strategic oversight for global biological reagent banking, inventory, and supply. Ms. Overton earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Hope College and a Master of Science in genetics from Illinois State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- NC State College of Engineering
Lucia Clontz, D. H.Sc., M.S., is the former head of Site Quality Head at Xellia Pharmaceuticals in Raleigh. She has more than 26 years of industry experience in quality, pharmaceutical microbiology, laboratory management, operational excellence initiatives, and training.
She is a published author, speaker and workshop leader at both national and international conferences, and in 2004, she received the Parenteral Drug Association's Distinguished Editor/Author award. A co-founder of the Biofilm Networking Group, Dr. Clontz is also a member of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Pharmaceutical Waters Expert Panel (2010-2015) and co-developer of the Contamination Control by Design© (CCbD) concept.
Dr. Clontz has Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry, with a minor in chemical engineering, and in marine sciences. She also holds a master's degree in microbial biotechnology and a doctorate in health sciences.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Scientist With the Accelerated Innovation
Miles Calzini, Ph.D., is a scientist with the Accelerated Innovation in Manufacturing Biologics (AIM-Bio) program at BTEC. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at NC State University, working on enzyme engineering and synthetic biology approaches to enzymatic catalysis of organic synthetic reactions. Prior to that, he worked in the Fermentation and Biocatalysis department at Curia, a CRO/CDMO located in Albany, where he assisted in process development for upstream and downstream production of natural products and enzymes. He received his Bachelors in Chemistry from Skidmore College.
Miles is involved in the development and delivery of three courses: PAT for Real-time Monitoring and Closed-Loop Process Control, Upstream Process Development for Biopharmaceutical Production, and Introduction to Chemical Modification of Protein Therapeutics.
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- Lab Manager in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering
Mr. Douglas Tremblay is a lab manager in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. He teaches the laboratory course Tissue Engineering Technologies (BME/BEC 483/583) and Cell, Molecular and Microbiology skills modules for BME298 and BME398. In addition, Douglas manages the BME Culture Core service laboratories that include BSL-2 labs in microbiology and cell culture and also tissue processing and other wet lab functions.
Research Interests
Molecular Biology
Biochemistry and Protein Purification
Protein Folding
Microbiology
Cell Biology
Education
B.S. Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts
M.S. Microbiology, University of Tennessee
Job Titles:
- Manager of Student Programs
Pa Nhia Moore is the manager of student programs at BTEC. She is responsible for academic and career advising for undergraduate or post-baccalaureate students in Biomanufacturing. In addition, she serves as the scheduler and enrollment manager for BEC courses. Ms. Moore has over eight years of experience working with college students, specializing in recruitment, advising, and professional development of STEM students. She received a Master of Science in college student personnel from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Bachelor of Science in zoology from NC State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
Ray Anover currently manages the biologics development and manufacturing technical operations for Eiger BioPharmaceuticals in Palo Alto, California.
Mr. Anover has more than 25 years of experience in the biotech industry. Prior to joining Eiger, he recently held a similar role at at Veloxis Pharmaceuticals in Cary, NC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Pharma based in Tokyo Japan. He also managed the biologics development and manufacturing operations for Chiesi Pharmaceuticals at the company's U.S. headquarters in Cary, N.C. for six years. Previously, he coordinated student programs at BTEC for four years. Additional experience includes work at VaxGen in San Francisco managing the international technology transfer from client Bristol Myers Squibb in Syracuse, N.Y., to the contract manufacturing organization (CMO) Celltrion, located near Seoul, South Korea. He also worked in facility startup and tech transfer for Wyeth Vaccines in Sanford, N.C., and was employed by Tanox Biosystems, which eventually became part of Genentech.
Mr. Anover holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, with a minor in chemistry and a pre-medicine concentration, from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State University
- NC State
Ruben G. Carbonell is the Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State University, which he joined in 1984 after 10 years at the University of California, Davis. As executive director of the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) from 2008 to 2017, he led the establishment of its highly regarded academic, professional development, and bioprocess and analytical services programs and now holds the title of BTEC Distinguished Fellow. Dr. Carbonell is currently serving as senior technology strategist for the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). He was instrumental in launching NIIMBL and served as chief technology officer from 2017-2020. Since 1999, he has also held the position of director of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science, which supports innovative research, educational, entrepreneurial and public policy programs.
Dr. Carbonell was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2014, in recognition of his work on molecular recognition for biological separations, and on transport processes. He is member of the National Academy of Science's Board of Chemical Sciences and Technology, and he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Carbonell is a Foreign Member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna. He has won numerous awards, including the Holladay Medal for Excellence at NC State, the highest award given to university faculty, and the O. Max Gardner Award, the highest award given to faculty members in the University of North Carolina System. He has published nearly 250 technical papers and is an inventor in over 30 patents, several of which have been licensed.
Dr. Carbonell received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Manhattan College in 1969 and his PhD from Princeton University in 1973. He has supervised more than 75 MS and PhD students and over 35 postdoctoral researchers, many of whom hold leading positions in industry and academia.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Bioprocess Automation
Ryan Barton, Ph.D., is the manager of Bioprocess Automation at BTEC. He has experience with automation instrumentation and software used for process control of various biomanufacturing processes, and experience with data collection, analytics, and model based process control. Additionally, he has experience in fermentation processes using bacteria (batch and continuous), bioreactor design, and catalytic conversion of biomass.
Dr. Barton spent one year as a Postdoctoral Researcher at NC State University where he worked on design and characterization of a prototype bioreactor for continuous bioprocessing of gas (methane) via aerobic bacterial fermentation. Dr. Barton earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his co-major Doctorate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Forest Biomaterials from NC State University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Scientist With the Accelerated Innovation
Sara Siegel, Ph.D. is a Senior Scientist with the Accelerated Innovation in Manufacturing Biologics (AIM-Bio) program at BTEC. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the MD Anderson University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and continued her training in microbiology as an HHMI post-doctoral researcher at UT Southwestern. After her post-doctorate work, she became a Research & Development Scientist at Locus Biosciences working on developing phage therapy as an alternative to antimicrobials.
Through AIM-Bio she is involved in several short courses: Chemical Modifications of Protein Therapeutics, Analytical Methods in Gene Therapy, Hands-On cGMP Biomanufacturing of Vectors for Gene Therapy, Biopharmaceutical Lyophilization and Spray Drying, and Protein Precipitation and Crystallization.
Job Titles:
- Industry Training Coordinator
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Member of the Advisory Board