don crabtree

Tepha specializes in medical devices made from absorbable polymers. I was the first person recruited. I did most of the lab work associated with getting a medical device approved by the FDA for use in humans in five years. Responsibilities: Method Development and Validation. Analysis of polyesters with GC, HPLC (GPC with RI and light-scattering detectors), FTIR, DSC, TGA, viscosity, enzymatic reactions, tensile testing, centrifugation and moisture analysis (KF). Minor polymer modification. Data analysis with Excel. Writing SOPs. Analysis of MS, NMR and kinetic data.

Infimed was a start-up, drug-delivery biopharmaceutical company primarily interested in controlled release of growth hormone. I was a late recruit. Unfortunately, it quickly went bankrupt. Responsibilities: Analysis of solid-dosage forms of human growth hormone with HPLC. GC and HPLC Method Development. Development of a method to measure oxygen using fluorescence quenching. PAGE gels. Polymer characterization with FTIR.

Schepens Eye Research Institute is dedicated to doing research on blindness. It is associated with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. I worked with many people on many different projects, including supervising two Medical Fellows (MDs studying at Schepens) and one Research Assistant. In summary, projects included: method development, vitamin E, retinyl palmitate and protein in the primate retina, use of silicone oil as a vitreous substitute, carotenoid-binding proteins and inflammation as it relates to macular degeneration. I regularly gave seminars at Schepens and presentations at international meetings. Also, I coauthored grant applications, progress reports, budgets and eleven publications - first author on seven.

Maintained and controlled cleaning-materials inventory and equipment inventory. Set up inventory-control software by writing code in dBase II.

University of California at San Francisco, Dept. of Biochemistry. Studied the enzymology of Parkinson's Disease with Walter Weyler, James I. Salach and Thomas P. Singer. Coauthored one publication. Acknowledged for skillful technical assistance on another publication (see: Walter Weyler and James I. Salach: Purification and Properties of Mitochondrial Monoamine Oxidase Type A from Human Placenta. JBC; 1985 260(24), pp. 13199 - 13207).

Dept. of Respiratory Diseases. Worked with Earl B. Weiss and Walter A. Hargraves. Set up a fluorometric method for measuring histamine. Studied the effect of lidocaine on histamine release in guinea pig lung tissue. I left because I needed to finish writing my Master's thesis.

Northeastern Co-op job. Along with the usual work, because my alternate was a pre-med student, I also worked as a scrub nurse for minor surgeries, such as urology, oral surgery and plastic surgery. Also, I worked on more major surgeries in a lesser role. I worked with many well-known surgeons, including Dr. Richard H. Overholt of the the Overholt Thoracic Clinic. I did not return because I wanted to be a scientist rather than a medical doctor.

Northeastern Co-op job. Joan B. Daniels was the Director. Acid cleaning glassware and autoclaving.

Joule Unlimited is a biofuels company. I was among the early recruits in a very fast growing company - employee number eleven. I played the major role in setting up the Analytical Chemistry Department. Responsibilities: Method Development. Analysis of biofuels and related compounds with GC/MS, GC-FID, Headspace-GC, HPLC-PAD, HPLC-RI and FT-NIR. Maintenance of equipment. Writing SOPs. Training junior personnel. I left because the company moved out of Cambridge.

Metabolix is a biodegradable bioplastics company. Tepha is a spin-off of Metabolix. For a few years, before Tepha got its own facility, we shared laboratory and office space. I was never a Metabolix employee, but I worked side by side with them.

* Dept. of Geochemistry. J.P. (Phil) Shannon was the Director. Did various analytical measurements on oil and oil-well samples. For example, see: R.E. Metter, 16/7-2 Well Norway: Hydrocarbon Source Analyses of Canned Cuttings * Report EPR.181ES.82, Research Application Report 002353, August 23, 1982, Received Sept. 6, 1982 * Sample Handling and Analyses by: D.V. Crabtree et al.

Karl Weiss was Chairman of the Chemistry Department. While in graduate school there, I obtained a stipend by teaching undergraduate chemistry laboratories, including the Physical Chemistry Laboratory for chemical engineering students.

Department of Physics. Worked with Oleg Pomerantzeff. Optics Lab - Worked on various optical projects including studying a microscope used for eye surgery.

Dept. of Fine Structure. Peter F. Davison was the Director. Worked with Eiji Fujimori on fibril formation of collagen. Two publications - first author on one.

Please note that when I was at Northeastern, it did not formally have Minors, nor Double Majors. While obtaining my BA along with ten required courses in biology, I took four years of chemistry, including Freshman Chemistry I & II (required), Organic Chemistry I & II (required), Advanced Organic Chemistry I & II (the first-year graduate course), Biochemistry (for 3rd year Chemistry Majors), Physical Chemistry I & II, Analytical Chemistry and the upper-level course in Inorganic Chemistry. Also, I took two years of Physics with Physics Majors. Furthermore, I took two years of Calculus and did independent study in Linear Algebra and Differential Equations with David Epstein, Chairman of the Mathematics Department. Graduated with Honor (Northeastern's equivalent of Cum Laude)."]

Along with the course requirements for an MS in Physical Chemistry (Thermodynamics I & II, Statistical Thermodynamics, Chemical Kinetics, Introduction to Quantum Chemistry I & II, Statistical Mechanics I & II), and elective graduate courses in Chemistry (e.g., Inorganic Chemistry I & II), I also took the upper-level undergraduate courses Mechanics II and Electricity and Magnetism I & II in the Physics Department (I studied Mechanics I during semester break). Also, I audited the first year graduate course in Quantum Mechanics in the Physics Department and the graduate course in Calculus of Variations in the Mathematics Department. Master's thesis on vacuum UV spectroscopy of cyclobutanones was with John L. Roebber."]