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Contract Research Organization Career:

I am currently GMP Cell-Based Assay Analyst at BioAgilytix, I run regulated and non-regulated cell-based assays including receptor-binding potency, proliferation, and inhibition assays across platforms like MSD, ELISA, colorimetry, and qPCR. I follow ALCOA++ data integrity principles and GMP documentation standards, assist in method development and qualification for large-molecule biologics, and work with clients to align study design with regulatory expectations.

At EpiCypher I adapted CUT&RUN and next-generation sequencing workflows for rare-disease tissue samples and helped establish their tissue and cell culture facility. I authored and implemented over 50 SOPs, supported GLP compliance, and contributed to client project design and execution. That work led to two high-impact co-authorships, including a 2025 Nature paper on NSD2 inhibitors in lung and pancreatic cancer.

Clinical Research Path:

Before working in Contract Research Organizations, my current role draws on everything I have built over more than a decade of scientific work. UNC Chapel Hill's Linnstaedt Lab, I coordinated multiplexed omics projects spanning LC-MS proteomics and RNA-seq within a human trauma-recovery cohort. I managed timelines across cross-functional teams, maintained data quality, and contributed to analyses linking acute biomarkers to white matter integrity and recovery outcomes after injury. This work resulted in co-authorship on several peer-reviewed publications, including a 2025 Journal of Neurotrauma paper and a 2026 Science Immunology study on sex differences in pain duration.Earlier, at NC State's Plants for Human Health Institute, I ran wound-healing and toxicity assays with plant-derived compounds in human dermal fibroblasts and murine macrophages, and authored SOPs that helped standardize daily lab operations. That process pushed me to think seriously about reproducibility and documentation, well before I entered formally regulated environments.

Early Academia Foundations:

My graduate work at the University of Rochester, where I earned my M.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology, gave me a strong foundation in experimental design. In the Morrell lab I developed flow-cytometry workflows to isolate murine stem cells and studied how platelets connect innate and adaptive immunity. In the Ritchlin lab I validated preclinical targets in psoriatic arthritis models, including the G-protein DC-STAMP. As a post-baccalaureate researcher I also worked on Xenopus models to study T-cell biology and nonclassical MHC class I-dependent invariant T cells. My scientific career started in Puerto Rico, where I joined Dr. Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at UPR-Mayaguez. We built a DNA repository to map local polymorphisms, trained students in molecular methods and bioinformatics, and worked closely with our community. That early combination of field context and bench work shaped how I still think about research.

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.