Sarah Gerhart

Experience

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  Lampire Biological Laboratories

  Jun 2006 - Aug 2006

  Research Assistant

  • Laboratory techniques: monoclonal antibody and hybridoma production, ELISA, autoclaving, animal husbandry, sterile technique • Other responsibilities: independently created system for cataloging extensive historic documentation for rapid and accurate retrieval

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  Lehigh University – Department of Biological Sciences

  Jan 2007 - Aug 2011

  Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • Research summary: This group studies the regulation of growth, or how organs/limbs achieve the correct size. The bony fin ray segments of the zebrafish fin are utilized to examine this phenomenon because fin length is regulated by mechanisms controlling both the number and length of these segments. My project involved studying how intercellular communication leads to defects in bone growth, specifically by determining whether Connexin40.8 can hetero-oligomerize with Connexin43 to create gap junction channels with unique properties and implications for growth during ontogeny and regeneration. • Laboratory techniques: gene knockdown using morpholino microinjection, gel electrophoresis, DNA isolation/purification, in situ hybridization, plasmid manipulation, mammalian cell culture, confocal microscopy, Western blotting, zebrafish care and feeding, solution preparation• Written work: Undergraduate thesis, two first-author publications• Presentations: Undergraduate thesis presentation/defense, biology honors seminar weekly presentations, lab meeting weekly presentations Show less

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  UCSF - Department of Infectious Disease

  Sept 2011 - Aug 2012

  Graduate Research Assistant

  • Research summary: I participated in three groups within the Department of Infectious Disease, and my projects focused on studying the interactions between mammalian host cells and the pathogenic soil bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the molecular basis of host-microbe interactions that foster the commensal and pathogenic lifestyles of the yeast Candida albicans, and the mechanisms that lead to infection of the placenta using Listeria monocytogenes. • Laboratory techniques: biochemistry (protein purification, column chromatography, UV-Vis analysis, lyophilization, cell lysis, Western blotting), stem cell techniques (differentiation and maintenance), mammalian cell culture (immortal and primary cell lines, transfection), bacterial, viral, and fungal techniques (bacterial transformation, spectrophotometer readings, MOI calculations, viral transduction, LDH assays, growth curves, colony PCR), confocal microscopy (including image manipulation and quantitation)• Written work: NSF grant awarded honorable mention, two grants to NIH standards • Presentations: 2-hour comprehensive rotation research presentations using PowerPoint, proposal defense before faculty, weekly lab meeting presentations Show less

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  UCSF - Department of Cell and Tissue Biology

  Aug 2012 - Jul 2013

  Graduate Research Assistant

  • Research summary: The soil nematode, C. elegans, exhibits odorant adaptation in which prolonged exposure to an innately attractive odorant in the absence of food causes a decreased response specifically to that odorant. Preliminary data reveal that a species of endo-siRNA may promote adaptation to odor, so my project focused on determining which species of siRNA may be important for adaptation by creating a comprehensive siRNA library comparing species of small RNA in non-adapted and adapted worms. • Laboratory techniques: molecular biology (RNA extraction and purification, genomic DNA extraction, mini prep, qRT-PCR, gel electrophoresis, cloning, primer design, site-directed mutagenesis, DNA and RNA sequencing), bioinformatics (constructed library of all small RNA species in an organism), fluorescence microscopy, fine technical manipulations (microinjections on living organisms), large scale assay preparation and analysis • Written work: 3-page grant awarded funding through California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); 10-page grant to NIH standards • Presentations: Successfully defended Master's research proposal before panel of 4 faculty members in the field; completed two Biomedical Science Journal Club presentations before all students and faculty of department; PowerPoint presentations of progress at weekly lab meetings Show less

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  Northampton Community College

  Oct 2013 - Nov 2013

  Tutor

  Tutoring various levels of chemistry, biology, and genetics

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  GlaxoSmithKline via Yoh

  Nov 2013 - Mar 2014

  Bench Scientist Associate

  • Executed cellular assays to support candidate selection milestone • Generated and presented gene expression data to inform PD biomarker discovery

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  GSK

  Mar 2014 - now

  • Identify, develop, and implement cutting edge advances in science and technology into biomarker strategies to guide indication selection, patient enrichment, and combination strategies.• Work with external industry and academic partners to evaluate, validate and establish key biomarker capabilities. • Design, implement and manage pilot studies and/or collaborative projects that aid in developing biomarker capabilities • Provide input to clinical biomarker teams on novel technologies that will enable clinical development of candidate drugs.• Represent biomarker team on clinical trial study teams and establish clear decision-making criteria to enable informed clinical decisions.• Contribute to the development of the biomarker clinical study plan and translational analysis plan and ensure its incorporation into clinical study design and alignment with clinical study objectives.• Provide input to clinical teams on biomarker-related elements of clinical protocols, lab manuals and consent forms.• Provide scientific expertise and technical guidance to enable timely biomarker sample collection.• Execute sample testing plan and deliver high quality biomarker data packages to inform clinical development and regulatory strategy. Point contact for resolving study biomarker issues.• Manage effective working relationships with clinical operations and medical science. Contribute to and ensure the quality of biomarker reports, summaries, data reviews and interpretations. Show less • Data operations: Coordinate with internal analytics and data operations groups as well as external partners to ensure efficient delivery and analysis of data for pilot study to inform clinical endpoints amidst ongoing cloud platform migrations.• Sample management: Track project activities; reconcile sample manifests and resolve discrepancies; identify and resolve operational problems to minimize delays; coordinate HBS shipments.• Project leadership: Work closely with internal cross-functional project teams and external partners to ensure that project objectives are delivered according to agreed scope, cost, quality and timeline milestones.• Meeting management: Lead internal scientific/strategy meetings and record accurate minutes outlining meeting content and action items.• Biomarker strategy: Contribute to data, literature, and timeline reviews to highlight accomplishments, understand alignment with clinical studies and academic collaborations, and shape strategy. Show less • Data delivery for time-bound program milestones: Independently designed, executed, interpreted, and presented cell biology studies (including gene and protein expression, proliferation, ELISA, and ex vivo PK/PD assays) for early pipeline projects of diverse modalities resulting in successful C2LD and C2LO milestones.• Scientific leadership and matrix working: Designed and proposed a functional genomics screen to identify novel monotherapy and combination therapy opportunities, resulting in endorsement by senior leadership. Accountable for biology leadership of ongoing chemogenomics screen within a matrix team and for working with complex in vitro modeling team to source relevant patient-derived organoids.• New target identification and interrogation: Led new target identification efforts as a breast cancer subject matter expert by reviewing the disease and treatment landscape in various tumor types, presenting proposals for new targets, highlighting potential risks, and positioning in relationship to clinical assets. Worked with computational biologists to design a database to mine for hits from published functional genomics screens and led efforts to prioritize targets. • Regulatory document preparation: Independently authored revisions to the non-clinical section of Investigator Brochure and integrated in vitro and in vivo biology updates. Resulted in successful submission to FDA. Single point accountability for data integrity management monitoring of research reports and master tracking tables during 2022 and 2023.• Inventor on GSK patent 20210106580 16/464439: filed in 2021 for PRMT inhibitor combination therapy. Show less • Contributions to candidate selection and FTIH milestones: Designed and executed cell-based mechanism of action assays resulting in key data for Technical Evidence Document for successful candidate selection milestone. Predictive biomarker experiments informed patient selection criteria in the clinic. Delivered pre-clinical data that drove clinical investment decisions to prioritize combinations and indication expansion opportunities.• 2019 Transformational Medicine Award recipient in recognition of scientific contributions and achievement of FTIH milestone. • Non-clinical research report preparation: Authored and integrated data for multiple research reports summarizing experiments using clinical compounds; the summaries from these reports were used directly in regulatory documentation. • External collaboration leadership: Led collaboration with a leading academic medical center which resulted in understanding the efficacy and mechanism of action in orthotopic models of glioblastoma. Actively participated in collaborations with numerous other medical institutions and academic groups.• Laboratory operations leadership: Single point of accountability in key roles representing the Research Unit such as SMART Lab Oversight Team, bay supervisor, capital expenditure liaison, equipment champion, laboratory relocation coordinator, and COVID-19 Return to Work champion. Show less

  • Associate Director

    Apr 2024 - now

  • Project Manager (secondment)

    Feb 2024 - Apr 2024

  • Investigator

    Nov 2020 - Feb 2024

  • Senior Scientist

    Mar 2014 - Nov 2020