Erica N. Thomas, PhD

Serve as a strategic partner to healthcare organizations through: • Designing and executing market research studies that maximize client impact, from initial materials development through recommendation of key strategic and tactical insights • Performing early-stage product feasibility assessments, with a focus on unmet patient needs, scientific tractability, competitive landscapes, and product scalability • Designing and moderating interactive client working sessions, including product pipeline planning, loss of exclusivity planning, and competitive simulation workshops • Providing strategic and operational management to non-profit consortia of pharmaceutical experts to establish as go-to organizations for addressing pressing precompetitive issues

I performed my dissertation work in the lab of Dr. Hani Zaher. Broadly, I investigated the impact of mRNA structural alterations on translation. My primary project focused on elucidating the mechanism through which bacteria rescue ribosomes stalled on transcripts damaged via alkylation. Additionally, I worked to understand the structural preferences of the most common oxidative damage adduct, 8-oxoguanosine, in the context of the ribosome. My final project probed the role of the non-bridging oxygens of the mRNA phosphodiester backbone in tRNA selection.

The Biotechnology and Life Sciences Advising (BALSA) group is a non-profit consulting firm focusing on the business of science and technology in the St. Louis area, as well as nationally and internationally. We conduct short-term consulting projects to provide our clients with data-driven results to help them solve their business questions. Our group specializes in questions pertaining to market analyses, competitor analyses, technology assessments, business plan development, pricing structures, and primary research. In my role as President, I was responsible for managing both our client interactions, as well our internal operations for a group of about ~80 active members.

As a consultant, I participated in short-term projects for start-ups and corporations in St. Louis and nationwide. I focused on projects involving technology assessment, competitor analysis, market analysis, and acquisitions. In my role as a project manager, I was in charge of leading a team of three consultants over the course of a short-term project. Responsibilities include assigning weekly tasks to each consultant, reviewing and editing weekly reports, working as a point of contact between the team and the client, assembling the final client report and presentation, and ensuring that all points of engagement are fulfilled and exceeded. In my role as advisor, I ensured that the project manager possessed the resources and skills necessary for the successful execution of the project. I also served as the primary liaison between the client and the consulting team and ensured that all final deliverables were complete and exceeded client expectations.

As the Director of Human Resources for BALSA, I was in charge of ensuring that teams were staffed with a group of consultants who worked in a productive and synergistic manner to complete each engagement. Additionally, I reviewed applications and interview incoming consultants, as well as provided performance feedback to BALSA members at the conclusion of each project.

I performed my undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. R. Keith Slotkin. I began with the characterization of transcripts from the Athila6 family of transposable elements in the model organism Arabidopsis. I identified the transcript start and stop sites, as well as an intron in the 3' region. I then moved onto projects involving the investigation of the role of RNA interference in the resilencing of TEs. My final project, which was the focus of my senior honors thesis, investigated the role of various Argonaute proteins on the epigenetic resilencing of transposable elements.

Graduated with Honors Research Distinction in Molecular Genetics and Honors in the Arts and Sciences