Education
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2003 - present)
Ph.D. Student in Chemical and Biological Engineering
Advised by Professors Jonathan S. Dordick and Christopher Bystroff
Thesis Topic:
Development of bioinformatics- and rational design-based methods for stabilization and optimization of proteins for use under industrial conditions. The consensus approach is used to determine thermostabilizing mutations in superfamilies of proteins based on sequence data-mining. The rewire approach, developed by our research groups (not yet published), is used to manipulate protein structures for optimization of protein folding and unfolding. Please see this website for a more complete discussion.
- University of California at Berkeley (1998 - 2003)
Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering - Emphasis in Biotechnology
Commerical R&D Experience
-
Summer Intern, Biochemistry, Genencor International, Palo Alto, CA
As part of a cross-disciplinary team, initiated project feasibility analysis for enzymatic production of an industrial product. Focused on identification of an unknown enzyme with the desired activity in Bacillus subtilis using an integrated approach including genomics, bioinformatics, fermentation analysis and optimization, and purification methods. Using a known enzyme, with the desired activity in E. coli , established protocols for enzyme isolation and preparation, optimized enzyme-strain productivity in shake flasks and 14-L fermenters by screening plasmid-strain interactions, growth conditions, and nutrients, and developed a scalable assay for enzyme activity.
May - August 2007
- Research Assistant Intern, Process Science, Kosan Biosciences, Inc., Hayward, CA
Contributed to the continuing development of a higher titer fermentation process for the production of Epothilone D (anti-cancer therapeutic) in the S. cellulosum bacterial host as part of a Process Development Team. Established a protocol for extracting the product from the fermentation media, screened media components to increase titer, scaled up process developments from shake flasks up to 2, 5, and 10-L fermenters, and analyzed nutrients and precursors in the product formation pathway to identify possible targets for improvement.
January - July 2002
Lab Skills
PCR : Amplification, Assembly, Error-prone, Site-directed Mutagenesis
Cloning and Expression in E. coli
Gel Electrophoresis : Agarose, SDS-PAGE, Westerns
Cell Culture and Fermentation : Bacterial: E. coli, S. cellulosum, Mammalian: MCF7 Human Breast Cancer Cells, Algal: C. reinhartii
Protein Purification : HPLC (Shimadzu), FPLC (BioCad, Shimadzu), Stirred-cell Membrane Separation, Dialysis, Centrifugal methods
Analaysis Techniques : GC-Mass Spectrometry, Fluorometry, 96-well Plate-reader, Colorimetric/pH Assays, Microscopy, UV/Vis/IR Spectrometry, Circular Dichroism, Light Scattering, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
Computer Skills
Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) - Chemical Computing Inc. (protein structure modeling, design, and rendering software)
Basic Programming : Perl and Matlab
Publications and Presentations
DiTursi, M.K., Kwon, S.J., Reeder, P.J., and Dordick, J.S. 2006. Bioinformatics-Driven, Rational Engineering of Protein Thermostability. PEDS. 19(11):517-524.
Reeder, P.J., Bystroff, C., and Dordick, J.S. Re-wiring: Rational Design and Analysis of Protein Topology in Green Fluorescent Protein. In preparation.
Reeder, P.J., Dinu, Z.C., Huang, Y.M., Bystroff, C., and Dordick, J.S. Biosensing Thinfilms Utilizing Novel GFP Complementation. In preparation.
Dinu, Z.C., Zhang, G., Reeder, P.J., Whited, G., and Dordick, J.S. Active Nanotube-Enzyme Conjugate Materials Containing an Acyltransferase from M. smegmatis. In preparation.
Programmable Fluorescent Peptide Biosensors. Provisional Application for United States Letters Patent. Chris Bystroff, Jonathan Dordick, Yaoming Huang, Philippa Reeder (Accepted 2007).
Proceedings of the 2006 AIChE Annual Meeting, 169e:
Bioinformatics-Mediated Rational Approaches to Protein Engineering for Increased Stability,
Philippa J. Reeder, Christopher Bystroff, and Jonathan S. Dordick.
Proceedings of the 234th ACS National Meeting 2007, 432:
Rational approaches to protein design and engineering, Philippa J. Reeder, Christopher Bystroff, and Jonathan S. Dordick.
Honors and Achievements
UC Berkeley Biology Fellowship Program (research grant), recipient 2000-2001
President AIChE, UC Berkeley Chapter, 2001-2002
Featured in "Engineering students you'd love to hire: snapshots of some of the best and brightest engineers to be." Design News, June 2003 link
RPI Howard P. Isermann Research Fellowship, recipient 2003-2004
iGEM-RPI, Advisor for project development and experimentation, 2008
printer friendly curriculum vitae including references
Last updated 08/22/08; reedep@rpi.edu
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