I started science doing genetics in Puerto Rico, where I joined Dr. Juan Carlos Martínez-Cruzado’s Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at UPR-Mayagüez. Those years grounded me in population genetics and community-anchored science. We built a DNA repository to map local polymorphisms and trained students in molecular methods and bioinformatics. That mix of field context and bench precision shaped how I still think about research and outreach.

After graduating I moved into immunology as a post-baccalaureate researcher at the University of Rochester. I worked on Xenopus models to understand T-cell biology, contributing to work on nonclassical MHC class I-dependent invariant T cells.

I stayed at Rochester for graduate studies in Microbiology and Immunology. In the Morrell lab I developed flow-cytometry workflows to isolate murine stem cells and studied how platelets bridge innate and adaptive immunity. In the Ritchlin lab I validated targets in preclinical psoriatic arthritis models specifically the g-protein DC-STAMP.

I later broadened into translational cell biology at NC State’s Plants for Human Health Institute, where I ran wound-healing and toxicity assays and wrote SOPs that stabilized day-to-day operations. That set me up for large, collaborative human-omics work at UNC Chapel Hill in the Linnstaedt Lab. I coordinated multiplexed projects across LC-MS proteomics and RNA-seq within trauma-recovery cohorts and coauthored studies linking acute biomarkers to brain structure and outcomes after injury. I also helped lead analyses on inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein in the acute post-trauma window.

I pivoted to chromatin biology by joining EpiCypher, where I supported high-efficiency chromatin mapping technology development and establishing their cell culture facility (EPIC). That translated into authorship on improved genomic mapping of chromatin-associated proteins and collaboration studies that connect histone-modifying enzymes to cancer.

Today, as a GMP cell-based assay analyst at BioAgilityx, I bring all of this together. I run and optimize regulated and non-regulated cell-based assays, and assist clients in developing and validating assays for their drug discovery programs.

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS:

• Jeong J, Hausmann S, Dong H, Szczepski K, Flores NM, Garcia Gonzalez A, Shi L, Lu X, Lempiäinen J, Jakab M, Zeng L, Chasan T, Bareke E, Dong R, Carlson E, Padilla R, Husmann D, Thompson J, Shipman GA, Zahn E, Barnes CA, Khan LF, Albertorio‑Sáez, L. M., Brill E, Kumary VUS, Marunde MR, Maryanski DN, Szany CC, Venters BJ, Windham CL, Nowakowski ME, Czaban I, Jaremko M, Keogh MC, Le K, Soth MJ, Garcia BA, Jaremko Ł, Majewski J, Mazur PK, Gozani O (2025). NSD2 inhibitors rewire chromatin to treat lung and pancreatic cancers. Nature.
• Saghafi S, Li Q, Neylan TC, Thomas TT, Stevens JS, Jovanovic T, Germine LT, Bucher MA, Huibregtse ME, Linnstaedt SD, An X, Harnett NG, Norrholm SD, Conti AC, Seligowski AV, Dillon DG, Vizer LM, McKibben LA, Albertorio‑Sáez, L. M., Beaudoin FL, Matson L, Calhoun VD, Harte SE, Bruce SE, Haran JP, Storrow AB, Lewandowski C, Musey PI, Hendry PL, Swor RA, Pearson C, Peak DA, O'Neil BJ, Kessler RC, Koenen KC, McLean SA, Clifford GD, Rad AB (2025). Predicting traumatic brain injury post-trauma using temporal attention on sleep–wake data. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.
• Huibregtse ME, Li T, Harnett NG, Yuh EL, Ely TD, Jovanovic T, Calhoun VD, Neylan TC, House SL, Clifford GD, Bucher MA, Linnstaedt SD, An X, Conti AC, Seligowski AV, Li Q, Dillon DG, Vizer LM, McKibben LA, Albertorio-Sáez LM, Beaudoin FL, Wang KKW, Matson L, Harte SE, Bruce SE, Haran JP, Storrow AB, Lewandowski C, Musey PI Jr, Hendry PL, Jones CW, Swor RA, Pearson C, Peak DA, O'Neil BJ, Kessler RC, Koenen KC, Ressler KJ, McLean SA, Stevens JS (2025). Association Between Acute Plasma Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Levels and White Matter Integrity in Recent Trauma Survivors. Journal of Neurotrauma.
• Son, E., Gaither, R., Lobo, J., Zhao, Y., McKibben, L. A., Arora, R., Albertorio‑Sáez, L., Mickelson, J., Wanstrath, B. J., & Bhatia, S. (2025). Further evidence that peritraumatic 17β‑estradiol levels influence chronic posttraumatic pain outcomes in women, data from both humans and animals. Pain.
• McKibben, L. A., Layne, M. N., Albertorio‑Sáez, L. M., Zhao, Y., Branham, E. M., House, S. L., Beaudoin, F. L., An, X., Stevens, J. S., & Neylan, T. C. (2024). Peritraumatic C-reactive protein levels predict pain outcomes following traumatic stress exposure in a sex-dependent manner. medRxiv.
• Firestone, T. M., Venters, B. J., Novitzky, K., Albertorio‑Sáez, L. M., Barnes, C. A., Fedder‑Semmes, K. N., Hall, N. W., Hickman, A. R., Kaderli, M., & Windham, C. L. (2024). High-efficiency genomic mapping of chromatin-associated targets with CUT&RUN. bioRxiv.
• Milks, K., Cloud, F. B., & Albertorio‑Sáez, L. (2024). How we get Mendel wrong, and why it matters: Challenging the narrative of Mendelian genetics. The American Biology Teacher.
• Sim, J., Monahan, K., Sugimoto, C., McLean, S., Albertorio‑Sáez, L., Zhao, Y., O’Guin, E., Dagenais, A., Inyang, K., & Bernard, M. (2023). Peripheral interleukin-10–producing monocytes contribute to sex differences in pain resolution in mice and humans. The Journal of Pain.
• Arora, R., McLean, S. A., Son, E., Lobo, J., Zhao, Y., Albertorio‑Sáez, L., Wanstrath, B. J., Benavides, S., Gaither, R., & Mickelson, J. (2023). Data from humans and animals implicating 17β‑estradiol as a promising therapeutic strategy for the prevention of chronic posttraumatic musculoskeletal pain. The Journal of Pain.
• Chiu YH, Schwarz E, Li D, Xu Y, Sheu TR, Li J, de Mesy Bentley KL, Feng C, Wang B, Wang JC, Albertorio-Saez L, Wood R, Kim M, Wang W, Ritchlin CT. Dendritic Cell-Specific Transmembrane Protein (DC-STAMP) Regulates Osteoclast Differentiation via the Ca2+ /NFATc1 Axis (2013). Journal of Cell Physiology.
• Edholm, E.-S., Albertorio Saez, L.-M., Gill, A. L., Gill, S. R., Grayfer, L., Haynes, N., Myers, J. R., & Robert, J. (2013). Nonclassical MHC class I–dependent invariant T cells are evolutionarily conserved and prominent from early development in amphibians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.