James B. Delehanty, Ph.D.

Transcription

1 Research Opportunities at the Naval Research Laboratory: From Postdoc to the Beyond James B. Delehanty, Ph.D. US Naval Research Laboratory Center for Bio/Molecular Science & Engineering

2 Establishment of NRL THOMAS A. EDISON GOVERNMENT SHOULD MAINTAIN A GREAT RESEARCH LABORATORY TO DEVELOP GUNS, NEW EXPLOSIVES AND ALL THE TECHNIQUE OF MILITARY AND NAVAL PROGRESSION WITHOUT ANY VAST EXPENSE. A WORLD-CLASS LABORATORY Idea followed the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 Secretary Josephus Daniels Established Naval Consulting Board with Edison Chair, meeting October 7, 1915 August 29, 1916 Congress appropriates funds to establish the Lab Delayed by WW-I, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Commissions the Lab at Bellevue site on July 2, 1923 THOMAS A. EDISON, THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE SUNDAY, MAY 30, 1915 Navy and Marine Corps Corporate Laboratory

3 Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering MISSION: Perform cross-disciplinary bio-inspired research to provide critical capabilities for the Navy and the Nation Banahalli Ratna, Division Head, Code 6900

4 Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering Nano/Bio Science and Technology Nanostructured Materials Chem/Bio Sensors for environmental, medical, food and WMD Biosurveillance Quantum Dots and Metal Nanoparticles Proteins and DNA Self Assembling LC materials PMOs for protection and decontamination Distributed Microsensors Underwater Explosives Detection Bacteria, fungi and viruses Single Domain Antibodies, Antimicrobial Peptides Bio-Electrochemical Systems: Microbial Electrode Catalysts for the Future Warfighter Rational design and construction of genetically engineered marine bacterial constructs Marine microbial biogeography Antifouling and anticorrosion solutions for ships Tracking and sensing Genomics, Proteomics, Matabolomics Benthic Microbial Fuel Cell (BMFC) Solar Microbial Fuel Cells Energy Harvesting Bioremediation Biocatalysis and Photosynthesis

5 Postdoc Time: What s the Goal? Publish, publish, publish Establish your independence Transition to your next position

6 National Research Council (NRC): (within 5 years of PhD awarded) Go to Search for Research Opportunities e=64&returnurl=%2fraplab10%2fopportunity%2fprograms.aspx%3fla bcode%3d64 Also look at opportunities at other Federal labs: AFRL ARL American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE): (within 7 years of PhD awarded)

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8 Nuts and Bolts 2 year appointment; 1 year review point; possible 3 rd year $75,000/yr Health benefits, relocation reimbursement, $3K/yr for travel to conferences Must be US citizen or permanent resident/green card holder What s expected? Herculean effort

9 Process: -Identify and contact a research scientist doing work you are interested in -Sell yourself; papers help -Interview, write proposal, submit application -externally reviewed and scored -if successful, agree on start date -get to work!

10 Where Do Postdocs Go? Academia Industry Government agencies: FDA, NIST Program management, consulting (DTRA, DARPA, NSF) Policy Fellowships (AAAS) Potential for Federal Hire

11 Interfacing Nanoparticles (NPs) with Cells: What s Required? A Fundamental Understanding Multifunctional NPs enable: Imaging Diagnostics Therapeutics Combined imaging/ diagnostics/therapeutics NP-mediated drug delivery Prototypical NPs: -Quantum dots -Gold NPs -Magnetic NPs -Liquid Crystal NPs

12 Enhanced Biocatalysis with Dimensionally-Confined Nanoparticle-Enzyme Activity Objective: Mimic the enhanced biocatalysis found inside a cell without the toxicity and other complexities typical associated with use of cells for biosynthesis. Payoff: A fundamental understanding and ability to perform designer enhanced multistep biosynthesis using enzymes but without cells. This will solve a major roadblock in synthetic biology. Approach: Attach multiple enzymes to nanoparticles in a manner that allows them to interact with each other in a diffusionallylimited manner and achieve high catalytic flux while engaging in a biosynthetic cascade. Graphic/Concept Phosphotriesterase activity on a quantum dot Kinetic analysis suggesting enzyme-product dissociation is enhanced when attached to the quantum dot Igor L. Medintz, 6900 Igor.Medintz@nrl.navy.mil

13 Electrode Characterization of Marine Microbial Biofilms for Bioenergy Production e - e - e - CO 2 Organic matter Omics Sequence DNA/RNA/Protein Bioinformatics Identify Pathways for Electron transfer CO 2 fixation Stable, robust functionality in marine environment: MFC Electrosynthesis of biofuels Sensing Potentiostat enrichment Carbon cloth fiber Developing environmentally relevant microorganisms for synthetic biology. Towards engineering microbial communities. Cathode from San Diego bay Environmental Application 1 Sarah.glaven@nrl.navy.mil

14 Otto X. Cordero et al. Science 2012;337: Bacterial Antagonism ECO-EVO Microbial Ecology for bioengineering and infectious disease Though naïve genomics and biochemistry each fail to distinguish bacterial ecotypes, crude antagonism assays succeed Vibrio, Acinetobacter, and mathematical models: toxins move among genomes more rapidly than target genes How do antagonisms shape collective identity and diversity?

15 David Stenger distributed sensors Anne Kusterbeck underwater explosives detection Christopher Spillmann barnacles Leonard Tender bacterial-based energy harvesting/production Ellen Goldman single domain/nanobodies