R Clay Wright
Education
2008 - 2014
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, Ph.D. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, March 2014
2004-2008
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, B.S. summa cum laude Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Minor in Biotechnology, May 2008
Employment
2014 - present
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biology and Electrical Engineering Dr. Jennifer Nemhauser and Dr. Eric Klavins, University of Washington, Seattle WA
Evolvability of the auxin and jasmonate signaling F-box proteins
2013 - 2014
Co-founder, Revolve Biotech Inc. Baltimore MD
DNA library service startup, business development and grant writing
2013
Engineering consultant, Novocor Medical Systems Chapel Hill, NC
Intravenous induced hypothermia device, design and modeling
2008 - 2014
Graduate Student, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Dr. Marc Ostermeier, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD
Directed evolution of cancer therapeutic enzymes and bioassay development
2007 - 2008
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Chemical Engineering Dr. Balaji Rao, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC
Cloning, purification and characterization of hyperthermophilic proteins
2005 - 2007
Research Assistant, Molecular Pharmacology, Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Kurt Brubaker, Durham NC
Characterization of antihistamine mechanism of action
Grants
7/2014-6/2016
Cracking the code of highly adaptable plant receptor proteins to engineer novel synthetic circuits, NSF PRFB DBI-1402222, PI, Sponsoring mentors: Jennifer Nemhauser, Biology, University of Washington and Eric Klavins, Electrical Engineering, University of Washington.
7/2013-4/2014
Revolve Biotechnologies, Incorporated,
TEDCO Maryland Innovation Initiative Phase 1, Co-PI.
Collaborative project with the founding members of Revolve for pre-commercial translational research.
6/2010-5/2013
Improving protein switches for cancer-activated enzyme prodrug therapy through site saturation and random mutagenesis, NSF GRFP 201008916, PI, Sponsoring mentor: Marc Ostermeier, Chemical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University.
Peer Reviewed Publications
Researchers mentored by RCW indicated by italics.
Wright RC, Zahler ML, Gerben SL, Nemhauser JL (2017) Insights into the Evolution and Function of Auxin Signaling F-Box Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana Through Synthetic Analysis of Natural Variants. Genetics. 207(2):583-591. doi:10.1534/genetics.117.300092.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; wrote the paper
Wright RC, Bolten N, Pierre-Jerome E (2017) flowTime: Annotation and analysis of biological dynamical systems using flow cytometry (R-package), January 2017. doi:10.18129/B9.bioc.flowTime
RCW developed and maintains the package
Pierre-Jerome E, Wright RC, Nemhauser JL (2017) Characterizing Auxin Response Circuits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by Flow Cytometry. Plant Hormones: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 1497, Jürgen Kleine-Vehn and Michael Sauer (eds.). doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-6469-7_22.
RCW developed the methods and wrote the paper
Wright RC, Nemhauser JL (2015) New tangles in the auxin signaling web. F1000Prime Rep. 7:19. doi:10.12703/P7-19.
RCW wrote the paper
Wright RC, Khakhar A, Eshleman JR, Ostermeier M (2014) Advancements in the development of HIF-1α-activated protein switches for use in enzyme prodrug therapy. PLoS One. 9(11):e114032. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114032.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; wrote the paper
Kanwar M, Wright RC, Date A, Tullman J, Ostermeier M (2013) Protein switch engineering by domain insertion. Methods in Enzymology. 523:369-88. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-394292-0.00017-5.
RCW wrote the paper
Wright CM, Wright RC, Eshleman JR, Ostermeier M (2011) A protein therapeutic modality founded on molecular regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 108(39):16206-11. doi:10.1073/pnas.1102803108.
RCW executed and analyzed experiments
Featured in Discover Magazine “Top 100 Stories of 2011: #38 Killing Cancer from the Inside” January-February 2012 issue (5 Jan 2012)
Gera N, Hussain M, Wright RC, Rao BM. Highly stable binding proteins derived from the hyperthermophilic Sso7d scaffold. J Mol Biol. 2010 Jun 17;409(4):601-16. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2011.04.020.
RCW executed and analyzed experiments
Invited talks
Wright RC, Gerben SR, Nemhauser JL, Evolvability and functional divergence of the auxin signaling F-box family. 49th Annual Northwest Developmental Biology Meeting, 2016 March 18; Friday Harbor, WA, USA.
Wright RC, Khakhar A, Wright CM, Eshleman JR, Ostermeier M, Improved protein switches for cancer-activated enzyme prodrug therapy. AICHE Annual Meeting, 2012 October 29; Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Posters
Wright RC, Zahler ML, Gerben SR, Nemhauser JL, Synthetic analysis of natural variants yields insights into the evolution and function of auxin signaling F-box proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. SEED 2017, 2017 June 20-23; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Gerben SR, Zahler ML, Nemhauser JL, Evolvability and functional divergence of the auxin signaling F-box family. Auxin 2016, 2016 October 20-25; Haitang Bay, Sanya, China.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Gerben SR, Nemhauser JL, Evolvability and functional divergence of the auxin signaling F-box family. Fourth Annual Winter Q-Bio meeting, 2016 February 14-18; Waikiki, HI, USA.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Wright CM, Khakhar A, Eshleman JR, Ostermeier M, Second-generation protein switches for cancer-activated enzyme prodrug therapy. Biochemical and Molecular Engineering XVII, 2011 June 26-30; Seattle, WA, USA.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Wright CM, Khakhar A, Eshleman JR, and Ostermeier M, Second-generation protein switches for cancer-activated enzyme prodrug therapy. 1st Network Symposium in Molecular and Cellular GlycoScience. 2011 October 15; Muenster, DE.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Wright CM, Eshleman JR, and Ostermeier M, Second-generation protein switches for cancer-activated enzyme prodrug therapy. Biological Design: Fourth Annual Advances in Bimolecular Engineering Symposium, 2010 December 3: New York, NY, USA.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Rao BM. Spatial model for in vitro patterned differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. The North Carolina State University Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2008 April 21; Raleigh, NC USA.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Wright RC, Brubaker K, Boyer JL. Methods for detection of histamine-mediated eosinophil degranulation in human leukocyte populations. The State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium. 2006 November 18; Raleigh, NC, USA.
RCW designed, executed and analyzed experiments; created the poster
Teaching Experience
Lecturer (Autumn 2017) University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, Introduction to R Programming (FISH 552) and Advanced R Programming (FISH 553), 49 students
Curriculum development, guest lecturer (Spring 2017) University of Washington, Department of Biology, Molecular Biology of Plant Development Lab (BIOL496), 10 students
Curriculum available on github.
Curriculum development, guest lecturer (Spring 2016 and Winter 2017) University of Washington, Department of Biology, Molecular Genetics of Plant Development (BIOL416), 18 students
Curriculum available on github.
Curriculum development, guest lecturer (Fall 2016) Whitman College, Department of Biology, Synthetic Cell Biology (BIOL471), 15 students
Curriculum available on github.
Guest lecturer (Fall 2016) Whitman College, Department of Biology, Genes & Genetic Engineering (BIOL125), 18 students
Science and society course for non-majors. Lecture and guided discussion about gene drive technology for malaria control.
Lecturer (Intersession 2013) Johns Hopkins University, Intersession Personal Enrichment, Zymology: Brewing and Fermentation from a Molecular Perspective, 4 students
Teaching Assistant (2009-2010, 2 semesters) Johns Hopkins University, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Kinetic Processes (EN.540.301), 80 students
Honors and Awards
2014
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Intersection of Biology, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
2011
Poster award runner-up at Biochemical and Molecular Engineering XVII
2010
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
2008
Samstag Graduate Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
2008
University Valedictorian, summa cum laude diploma with honors, North Carolina State University
2008
North Carolina State University Honors Program Graduate
2008
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Award for Scholarship
2007
Russ O’Dell Outstanding Chemical Engineering Senior Scholarship
2007
North Carolina State Undergraduate Research Award Recipient
2006
Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society Inductee
Professional Service and Affiliations
2017 - present
Seattle useR group (R-programming language meetup group), Member
2016 - present
UW Biology Education Research Group, Member and Presenter
2014 - present
F1000, Associate Faculty Member
2014
UW Summer Institutes in Statistical Genetics, attended Population Genetics, Molecular Phylogenetics and Coalescent Theory modules
2006 - 2013
American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Member
2012 - 2013
Society for Biological Engineers, Member
2012 - 2013
Grievance Committee Graduate Representative, Johns Hopkins University
2012 - present
Assistant reviewer for Cell, Proteins, Plant Cell, Nature Communications
Outreach
2017 - present
PhytoTEC: Teach. Engage. Connect. Plant biotechnology outreach group
2015 - 2016
Building with Biology: Activities and Conversations about Synthetic Biology, activity guide
2008 - 2013
STEM Afterschool Outreach, teacher/curriculum developer
2009
LEAD: Learn, Explore, Advance, Develop!, middle school independent project mentor
2006 - 2008
Community Outreach Effort – Vice President