Darian Flores

• Established peptide discovery platform via phage display to complete radioligand therapeutic (RLT) development pipeline. • Led biopanning campaigns of phage peptide libraries for independent, cost-effective identification of cancer-binding ligands.

• Developed EX-PRESS™ 293 cell line, with improved yields and in cellulo biotinylation resulting in lower production costs. • Evaluated super naïve VHH library clones by BLI to demonstrate rapid discovery of high-affinity single-domain antibodies. • Assembled pYDL™ vector series for N- & C-terminal yeast display, and upgraded replication & induction to meet client needs. • Generated own strain of bacteria with tighter expression control, and revised production protocols to increase competency. • Investigated novel antibody designs via successive rounds of mutagenesis, expression, purification, and aggregation analysis. • Maintained responsibilities of Research Associate I position.

• Grew from independent experiment conduct to planning benchwork, balancing project timelines, and efficient reporting. • Led recombinant protein production pipeline to ensure timely delivery of over 40 custom antibody orders worldwide, generate low-cost material for products and internal projects, and confirm high performance of proprietary cell lines. • Optimized proprietary cloning technique to accelerate project timelines and facilitate commercial launch as new product. • Troubleshot own chimeric rabbit Fab phage library with infectivity measurement, ELISA, and full rabbit IgG reformatting. • Produced over 50 batches of catalog products: anti-M13 antibodies, helper phages, competent cells, and cloning vectors. • Trained and mentored lab assistants in making buffers, pouring plates & gels, screening bacterial colonies, and plasmid prep.

• Grew from postdoc-supervised training to independent experiment conduct, project management, and literature review. • Led weekly M13 mutant amplifications and precipitations to generate concentrated material for lab-wide research projects. • Characterized binding of phages with pIII- and pVIII-fused HPQ peptide motif to streptavidin in presence of BSA and biotin. • Analyzed specificity and sensitivity of lanthanide-binding phage coat fusions against lighter metals via UV-Vis and ICP-MS. • Pulled phages displaying collagen-like peptides onto silicon wafers, yielding self-assembled films to be examined with AFM.

• Managed daily operations for running food waste-to-bioplastic pilot plant, and prepared facilities for demo plant upgrade. • Homogenized food waste into feedstock for culture, and extracted intermediates via filter press and crossflow filtration. • Analyzed patents on bacterial PHA production and confirmed own company’s competitive position in the bioplastic industry.

• Collected data for custom optical diagnostic devices to evaluate performance & guide troubleshooting prior to client release. • Launched development of quantitative spectroscope to supplement qualitative colorimetric test kits for aquarium waste: generated concentration curves from serial dilutions, identified critical wavelengths, and paired with optimal photodiodes.

Bioengineering B.S. degree program, with supplemental coursework in biophysical chemistry and molecular biophysics.

Transferrable credit for multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations.