Biotechnology PhD Training Program

UVa

 

Corporate Advisors

Ernie Pérez Almodóvar, PhD
Ernie is Director of Manufacturing at Amgen where his is responsible for 70% of Amgen’s drug filling needs. He joined Amgen in 2012 as a member of the downstream process development team that developed and implemented improvement projects and complete technology transfers at multiple commercial facilities. Ernie is a BTP alum with his PhD from UVa’s Department of Chemical Engineering, graduating with Louis T. Rader and L. William Ballard, Jr. awards from the lab of Giorgio Carta, PhD. 
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Stacey Gorski, PhD
Stacey is Director of Medical Excellence & Training in the Medical Affairs department at Sanofi Pasteur, one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers. Stacey joined Sanofi Pasteur in 2017 as Deputy Director of Medical Science Liaison, and maintains an active appointment at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia where she is a professor of immunology in the College of Pharmacy. Stacey is a BTP alum with her PhD from the UVa Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology under Tom Braciale, MD, PhD. 
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Tara Tibbs Jones, PhD
Tara is Executive Director and Drug Substance Plant Manager at Amgen. Her past positions at Amgen include Director of Amgen’s Purification Process Development, and Director of Global Operations.  Tara started at Amgen as a Scientist in 2004, and is a BTP alum with her PhD from the UVa Department of Chemical Engineering under Erik Fernandez. 
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George R. Martin, PhD
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Greystone Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Chief of the Scientific Advisory Board,
Fibrogen, Inc (San Francisco, CA), former Chief Technical Officer and Senior Vice-President at Fibrogen, former Scientific Director of the National Institute of Ageing, former Chief of the Laboratory of Developmental Biology and Anomalies, National Institute of Dental Research (Bethesda, MD).

Robert McKown, PhD
Professor, ISAT, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA. Directs the Biomanufacturing Lab at JMU and has a background in industry as a scientist at Advanced Genetic Sciences (Oakland, CA) and DNA Plant Technology Corp. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Virginia Biotechnology Association, 2003 winner of the VaBio Educator of the Year award and faculty advisor for the JMU student chapter of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering. 
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Rosalind Mott, PhD
Associate Scientific Editor of Cell Press/Elsevier and a Scientific Editor of
Cell Metabolism - the premier journal for endocrinology and metabolism.  This provides Rosalind with an unusually rich perspective of state-of-the-art industrial and academic research spanning this diverse area; and with her unique experience as an Editor.  Rosalind joined Cell Press/Elsevier in 2015 and postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania.  BTP alum with her PhD from the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the lab of Brian Helmke.  LinkedIn