Eric joined the staff of iCubed in September of 2010 after earning his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Brown University.

In a short amount of time, Eric has developed into a jack-of-all-trades. While one day he may be leading a hands-on training exercise of the iVAX toolkit, the next he could be working on immunoinformatics analyses to help develop a vaccine for future testing.

One of Eric’s primary focuses since arriving at iCubed has been designing a mutli-pathogen vaccine against several strains of the Category B bioterror agent Burkholderia. From day one, Eric hit the ground running by helping write a manuscript on the immunoinformatic analysis of Burkholderia genome sequences. He then presented a poster on the topic at October’s Vaccine Renaissance Conference in Providence and then again at Seattle’s Keystone Symposium.  Currently, he is assisting in the preliminary testing phase of the vaccine components through immunization response studies in mice. He is also working on production and purification of a recombinant pseudoprotein multi-pathogen vaccine and is collaborating with the Navy Medical Research Center in Washington D.C., which will oversee the administering of pathogens to the immunized mice. 

Eric also co-organized January’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Workshop. Over the course of the three-week course, Eric both lectured and led a computer-based training class to teach the mechanics of the iVAX toolkit to a dozen visiting researchers from all over the world. Upon completion of the workshop, the fellows were able to return to their home laboratories with their newly developed skills to conduct their own experiments. Three of the fellows will return to iCubed this summer to again work with Eric on their projects.

Eric will again lecture on the iVAX toolkit to visiting students during May’s 1^st Immunogenicity – Determinants and Correlates Conference in Providence.

In only a short amount of time, Eric has proven himself a worthy asset to iCubed and its mission. For his eager attitude and ability to go where he’s needed most, Eric has been named iCubed’s Featured Researcher of the Month.