DeeAnn Visk, PhD
12323 Holland Rd; Poway, CA 92064 ● Tel: 858-736-7963 ● Authorized to work in the US
Email: deeannlwv@gmail.com ● Website: www.deeannvisk.com
Summary
Medical writer and editor with experience in peer-reviewed, academic research papers moving into regulatory writing: FDA submissions for new investigational drugs, new drug applications, marketed pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and in vitro diagnostics.
Work done: 23 articles written and published online, commissioned by clients. Editing expert: 16 papers polished before academic peer-review. Author on 6 peer-reviewed academic research papers. Set up, designed, wrote, edited, and published a professional website: www.deeannvisk.com.
Working knowledge and experience covering academia, biotech industry, and professional conferences. Posters, abstracts, and presentations communicated.
Proficient team player evidenced by work done for local non-profit (AWIS-San Diego): President from 2016 to 2018; Co-Chair for flagship conference, Women in Science and Technology (WIST) conference in 2017; Co-Chair for AWIS-San Diego Open House 2015 through 2018.
Expert in Microsoft Office Suite products from 2016 including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Professional Experience
Principal Writer and Editor, DeeAnn Visk Consulting; Poway, CA
May 2013 to present
- Wrote several articles for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News on advances in molecular diagnostics, high throughput screening, transfection technology for gene therapy, information technology and biotechnology, and pharmacogenetics
- Edited manuscripts for clients at the NIH
- Wrote white paper for Organovo on advantages of bioprinted human tissues in drug discovery and development
- Developed manuscript for risk assessment of patients for serious adverse reactions to fluoropyrimidines from posters and other information
- Targeted quarterly newsletter to specific demographic in San Diego area for client
- Worked remotely with little supervision for clients in New York, Washington DC, and France
- Served as a consulting editor for Mary Ann Liebert Publisher, soliciting manuscripts for several peer-reviewed journals
- Assembled e-newsletters in Constant Contact and MailChimp
- Edited manuscripts in drug discovery and development, in preparation for submission to peer-reviewed journals
Past President, Association for Women in Science, San Diego (AWIS-SD) Feb 2018 to present
- Mentored new president
- Continued as a board member to ensure continuity
President, AWIS-SD
Jan 2016 to Feb 2018
- Led local non-profit with budget of over $50k
- Organized monthly board meetings
- Ensured maintenance of quality programming
- Mentored members in their careers
- Co-Chaired Open House Committee
- Set agenda, ran, and provided vision for AWIS-SD as a whole
Scientist, ChemDiv; San Diego, CA
July 2014 to Dec 2014
- Screened small compounds for anti-HBV activity via a high throughput cell-based assay done on ELISA plates
- Tested small compounds for anti-RSV activity as contract work for structure activity relationship (SAR)
- Ran high throughput screen of proprietary compounds for anti-HBV activity
- Completed assignment on time in high pressure environment
- Developed an assay for viral inhibition using commercially available reagents
- Analyzed data to determine the EC50 and CC50 used in lead development
- Troubleshot problems as they arose with Biomek 2000, reagents, and software
- Programmed Biomek 2000 for high throughput liquid handling screens
Associate Consultant, APEX Think; Fallbrook, CA
May 2013 to Sept 2013
- Wrote weekly scientific blogs for multiple clients with search engine optimization (SEO) and content optimization in mind
- Composed technical notes, application notes, protocols, and case study for promotional purposes
Co-Editor, AWIS-SD (volunteer)
Sept 2012 to Dec 2016
- Edited and wrote articles for newsletter; solicited articles from members
- Coordinated organization of newsletters with co-chairs
Member of the Strategy Session Committee, AWIS-SD
Oct 2013 to Dec 2016
- Recruited speakers and envisioned career development sessions for members
- Spoke at session on “Building Your Online Presence”
- Moderated panel discussion “Build Your Own Business”
Researcher, Center for AIDS Research
Aug 2012 to Feb 2013
- Troubleshot contaminating genomic DNA problem; traced back to the homogenization of DNA during isolation
- Conducted experiments comparing results of quantitative PCR and digital droplet PCR, demonstrating that the two techniques offer similar results
Biology Doctoral Candidate, UCSD; La Jolla, CA
Sept 2005 to Sept 2011
- Optimized immunohistochemical staining for whole tissue mounts
- Demonstrated cellular localization of proteins of interest with confocal microscopy
- Presented at and participated in journal clubs, lab meetings, and national conferences
- Discovered novel role for Notch signaling pathway during survival of hypoxia
- Developed phenotypic assay for survival during chronic hypoxia
- Exhibited a high level of initiative in troubleshooting experiments
Biology Graduate Student, UCSD; La Jolla, CA
Sept 2003 to Sept 2004
- Completed advanced coursework in Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology
Staff Research Associate (SRA1), UCSD; La Jolla, CA
Jan 2001 to Aug 2003
- Designed, performed, and interpreted PCR experiments to determine extent of genomic mutation
- Isolated, purified, extracted, quantified, and characterized genomic DNA from whole tissues and plasmid DNA from bacterial cultures
- Prepared RNA for use in microarray expression analysis
- Interviewed, trained, and supervised student assistants in routine laboratory chores and other lab techniques.
Staff Research Associate (SRA1), UCSD; La Jolla, CA
Oct 1999 to Dec 2000
- Generated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs)
- Experimented with the clonal MEFs to determine response to radiation
- Performed stable and transient transfections utilizing retroviral vectors with helper cell lines
Research Technologist I and II, UW; Seattle, WA
Feb 1991 to Jul 1996
- Performed tissue culture experiments to elucidate the genetic regulation of muscle creatine kinase
- Derived long-term mouse skeletal muscle cell lines from tissue samples
- Cloned novel DNA sequences into plasmids
- Composed laboratory protocols for the handling of tissue culture cells
- Stained tissue culture cells for myosin heavy chain using immunohistochemistry
- Interviewed, trained, and supervised student assistants in routine laboratory chores and other lab techniques.
Education
- Study Group for the United State Regulatory Affairs Certificate (RAC) examination
San Diego Regulatory Affairs Network (SDRAN) May 2018 to Aug 2018
- American Medical Writers Association Essential Skills
Workbooks, self-study Sept 2016 to Dec 2017
- PhD, Biological Sciences
UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA Sept 2003 to Sept 2011
Dissertation: The Role of Notch in Survival During Chronic Hypoxia
- Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Sept 1985 to Dec1989
Professional Associations
- San Diego Regulatory Affairs Network
- Association for Women in Science, San Diego chapter
- San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange
- Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium
- American Medical Writers Association, Pacific Southwest Chapter
- Microscopy Society of America
- Phi Kappa Phi, honor society
Publications
Antibody Screening Solutions Made Easy [Two articles out of five total]. Section Titles: “Advances in Discovery and Screening of Therapeutic Antibodies”; and “New Methods Improve Ab Engineering”. DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News eBook, Sponsored by Intellicyt, a Sartorius Company. ePublished May 8, 2018. https://intellicyt.com/gen-ebook/
“New Methods Improve Ab Engineering: Developers Work to Discover First-in-Class Therapeutics.” Also published in the above eBook. DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 38 no 4, February 15, 2018. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/new-methods-improve-ab-engineering/6254
“Genome Engineering: CRISPR Proving More User-Friendly; Scaling CRISPR Technology to Produce Off-the-Shelf Libraries”. DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 37 no 15, September 1, 2017. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/genome-engineering-crispr-proving-more-user-friendly/6128
“Bioinformation Wants to Be Free and Responsible.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 37 no 11, June 1, 2017. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/bioinformation-wants-to-be-free-iandi-responsible/6054
“Valbenazine for Tardive Dyskinesia Tolerated Long-Term: Only 15% of Patients Discontinued Tx Over 1 Year due to Adverse Events.” DeeAnn Visk. Medpage Today. Published online May 28, 2017. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/apa/65645
“Syrian Refugee Children Have High Burden of Anxiety: Vast Majority Experienced Separation Anxiety.” DeeAnn Visk. Medpage Today. Published online May 28, 2017. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/apa/65642
“Quelling Overdiagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in Kids: New DSM-5 Category may Better Capture the Actual Condition.” DeeAnn Visk. Medpage Today. Published online May 28, 2017. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/apa/65600
“PTSD Tied to Cardiac Inflammation: PTSD Patients may be at Higher Risk of Cardiovascular Events.” DeeAnn Visk. Medpage Today. Published online May 25, 2017. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/apa/65574
“Novel ADHD Med May Make Mornings Easier: Improved BSFQ Scores in Kids with ADHD.” DeeAnn Visk. Medpage Today. Published online May 25, 2017. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/apa/65565
“Treating Sleep Problems May Ease Depression: PAP Therapy Tied to Reduction in Depressive Symptoms.” DeeAnn Visk. Medpage Today. Published online May 24, 2017. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/apa/65536
“Finding Targets in Cancer’s Metabolic Quirks to Head Off Cancer at the Pass, Take Directions from Pathway Analysis.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 37 no 8, April 15, 2017. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/finding-targets-in-cancers-metabolic-quirks/6009
“CRISPR Applications in Plants: A Report from the Plant and Animal Genomics Conference.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), ePublished, February 14, 2017. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-exclusives/crispr-applications-in-plants/77900846
“Phenotypic Screens Take Atypical Course: Some New Screens Are Learning to Take Readings on the Fly, While Changing Course as Needed.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 37 no 1, January 1, 2017. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/phenotypic-screens-take-atypical-course/5925
“Antibody Validation Stakeholders Speak: Scientists, Journal Editors, Funders, Antibody Producers, and Others—Shared Their Perspectives on How to Reach Consensus.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 36 no 21, December 1, 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/antibody-validation-stakeholders-speak/5908
“SfN Presentations Provide Insights on Brain-Related Diseases: New Understandings Are Resulting in More Representational Models for Drug Discovery.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), ePublished November 21, 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-exclusives/sfn-presentations-provide-insights-on-brain-related-diseases/77900790
“With Biomarkers, Don’t Trust, Just Verify: Everyone Agrees That Biomarkers Can’t Be Taken at Face Value.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 36 no 20, November 15, 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/with-biomarkers-dont-trust-just-verify/5889
“Transfection Methods in Gene Therapy: Gene Therapy Must Breach Cellular Ramparts without Reenacting the Fall of Jericho in Miniature.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 35 no 19, June 1, 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/transfection-methods-in-gene-therapy/5776
“The Hunt for Poorly Characterized GPCRs: Just Because a G-Protein Coupled Receptor Has Resisted Characterization Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Sighted—or Hunted.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 36 no 7, April 1, 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/the-hunt-for-poorly-characterized-gpcrs/5728
“The Reemergence of Phenotypic Screening: After Having Been Eclipsed by Target-Based Screening, Phenotypic Screening Is Finally Shining Again.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 36 no 3, February 1, 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/the-reemergence-of-phenotypic-screening/5675
“High-Content Analysis Has Full Dance Card: Phenotypic Screening Is Being Paired With a Succession of Complementary Technologies”. DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 36 no 1. January 2016. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/high-content-analysis-has-full-dance-card/5656
“Bioinformatics beyond Genome Crunching: Flow Cytometry, Workflow Development, and Other Information Stores Can Become Treasure Troves If You Use the Right IT Tools and Services.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 35 no 19, November 2015. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/bioinformatics-beyond-genome-crunching/5617
“The Medical Writers’ Toolbox Decoded.” DeeAnn Visk. Postscripts, official magazine of the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association, vol 5 no 38, p 181-183. 2015. https://issuu.com/postscripts/docs/v5n38
“Molecular Pathology’s Contextual Cues: Disease Doesn’t Have to Play as Tragedy.” DeeAnn Visk. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), vol 35 no 14, August 2015. https://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/molecular-pathologys-contextual-cues/5555
“Will Advances in Preclinical In Vitro Models Lower the Costs of Drug Development?” DeeAnn Visk. Applied In vitro Toxicology, vol 1 no 1 p 79-82, March 2015. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aivt.2015.1503
“Experimental Selection of Hypoxia-Tolerant Drosophila melanogaster.” Zhou D, Udpa N, Gersten M, Visk DW, Bashir A, Xue J, Frazer KA, Posakony JW, Subramaniam S, Bafna V, Haddad GG. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 108 no 6 p 2349-54, February 2011. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038716/
“The Asparaginyl Hydroxylase Factor Inhibiting HIF-1alpha is an Essential Regulator of Metabolism.” Zhang N, Fu Z, Linke S, Chicher J, Gorman JJ, Visk D, Haddad GG, Poellinger L, Peet DJ, Powell F, Johnson RS. Cell Metabolism, vol 11 no 5, p 364-78, May 2010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2893150/
“Drosophila, a Golden Bug, for the Dissection of the Genetic Basis of Tolerance and Susceptibility to Hypoxia.” Dan Zhou, DeeAnn W. Visk, Gabriel G. Haddad. Pediatric Research, vol 66 no 3, p 239-247, March 2009. https://www.nature.com/articles/pr2009195
“Targeting of TAK1 by the NF-KB Protein Relish Regulates the JNK-mediated Immune Response in Drosophila.” Jin Mo Park, Helen Brady, Maria Grazia Ruocco, Huaiyu Sun, DeeAnn Williams, Susan J. Lee, Tomohisa Kato Jr., Normand Richards, Kyle Chan, Frank Mercurio, Michael Karin, and Steven A. Wasserman. Genes & Development, vol 18, p 584-594, 2004. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC374239/
“Analysis of Muscle Creatine Kinase Regulatory Elements in Recombinant Adenoviral Vectors.” Michael A. Hauser, Ann Robinson, Dennis Hartigan-O’Conner, DeeAnn Williams-Gregory, Jean N. Buskin, Steve Apone, Christopher J. Kirk, Stephen Hardy, Stephen D. Hauschka, and Jeffrey S. Chamberlain. Molecular Therapy, vol 2 no 1, p 16-25, July 2000. https://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/fulltext/S1525-0016(00)90089-3
“Harvest Protocol to Reduce Variability of Soluble Enzyme Yield from Cultured Cells.” Jean N. Buskin, DeeAnn L. Gregory, William LaFramboise, and Stephen D. Haushcka. BioTechniques, vol 20 no 1 p 92, January 1996. https://www.future-science.com/doi/10.2144/96201st04
Edited Publications (Dr. Visk Cited in the Acknowledgements)
Vu M, Li R, Baskfield A, Lu B, Farkhondeh A, Gorshkov K, et al. “Neural stem cells for disease modeling and evaluation of therapeutics for Tay-Sachs disease.” Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2018;13(1):152. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6139903/
Swaroop M, Brooks MJ, Gieser L, Swaroop A, Zheng W. “Patient iPSC-derived neural stem cells exhibit phenotypes in concordance with the clinical severity of Mucopolysaccharidosis I.” Human Molecular Genetics. 2018. https://academic.oup.com/hmg/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/hmg/ddy259/5056151
Gorshkov K, Chen CZ, Marshall RE, Mihatov N, Choi Y, Nguyen DT, et al. “Advancing precision medicine with personalized drug screening.” Drug Discovery Today. 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359644617305378
Sima N, Sun W, Gorshkov K, Shen M, Huang W, Zhu W, et al. “Small Molecules Identified from a Quantitative Drug Combinational Screen Resensitize Cisplatin’s Response in Drug-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cells.” Translational Oncology. 2018;11(4):1053-64. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6034569/
Yang S, Xu M, Lee EM, Gorshkov K, Shiryaev SA, He S, et al. “Emetine inhibits Zika and Ebola virus infections through two molecular mechanisms: inhibiting viral replication and decreasing viral entry.” Cell Discovery. 2018;4:31. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-018-0034-1
Zhou W, Sun W, Yung MMH, Dai S, Cai Y, Chen CW, et al. “Autocrine activation of JAK2 by IL-11 promotes platinum drug resistance.” Oncogene. 2018;37(29):3981-97. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41388-018-0238-8
Sima N, Li R, Huang W, Xu M, Beers J, Zou J, et al. “Neural stem cells for disease modeling and evaluation of therapeutics for infantile (CLN1/PPT1) and late infantile (CLN2/TPP1) neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses.” Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2018;13(1):54. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5891977/
Gorshkov K, Aguisanda F, Thorne N, Zheng W. “Astrocytes as targets for drug discovery.” Drug Discovery Today. 2018;23(3):673-80. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359644617304725
Sun W, Zheng W, Simeonov A. “Drug discovery and development for rare genetic disorders.” American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A. 2017;173(9):2307-22. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5662129/
Dai S, Dulcey AE, Hu X, Wassif CA, Porter FD, Austin CP, et al. “Methyl-β-cyclodextrin restores impaired autophagy flux in Niemann-Pick C1-deficient cells through activation of AMPK.” Autophagy. 2017;13(8):1435-51. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5584846/
Li S, Hsu CW, Sakamuru S, Zou C, Huang R, Xia M. “Identification of Angiogenesis Inhibitors Using a Co-culture Cell Model in a High-Content and High-Throughput Screening Platform.” SLAS Technology. 2018;23(3):217-25. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6032403/
Zheng W, Sun W, Simeonov A. “Drug repurposing screens and synergistic drug-combinations for infectious diseases.” British journal of pharmacology. 2018;175(2):181-91. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5758396/
Li R, Hao J, Fujiwara H, Xu M, Yang S, Dai S, et al. “Analytical Characterization of Methyl-beta-Cyclodextrin for Pharmacological Activity to Reduce Lysosomal Cholesterol Accumulation in Niemann-Pick Disease Type C1 Cells.” Assay and Drug Development Technologies. 2017;15(4):154-66. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5510037/
Sun W, He S, Martinez-Romero C, Kouznetsova J, Tawa G, Xu M, et al. “Synergistic drug combination effectively blocks Ebola virus infection.” Antiviral Research. 2017;137:165-72. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5182099/
Sun W, Sanderson P, Zheng W. “Drug combination therapy increases successful drug repositioning.” Drug Discovery Today. 2016;21(7):1189-95. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4907866/
Dai S, Li R, Long Y, Titus S, Zhao J, Huang R, et al. “One-Step Seeding of Neural Stem Cells with Vitronectin-Supplemented Medium for High-Throughput Screening Assays.” Journal of Biomolecular Screening. 2016;21(10):1112-24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5285267/
Presentations
“Professional Pathways: Medical Writing and Editing.” UCSD Biology Graduate Student Careers Program, Bonner Hall, UCSD; February 15, 2018.
“Building Your Online Presence: Do’s and Don’ts”. Association for Women in Science, San Diego chapter Strategy Session; Hera Hub, February 3, 2014.
“Notch Over-Expression in Drosophila Glia and Long-Term Survival in Low Oxygen”. Advancement to Candidacy; Division of Biology; University of California, San Diego December 2, 2008.
“Role of Notch Signaling in Low Oxygen Survival”. Fly Meeting, San Diego Area, June 13, 2008.
Journal Club Presentation of the paper: “Posttranslational hydroxylation of ankyrin repeats in IκB proteins by the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) asparaginyl hydroxylase, factor inhibiting HIF (FIH)”. University of California, San Diego. February 21, 2007.
“Long-Term Survival in Low Oxygen: Role of the Notch Pathway”. Second year thesis proposal; Division of Biological Sciences; University of California, San Diego; July 25, 2006.
Posters
“Over-Expression of Notch in Drosophila Glia Potentiates Long-Term Survival in Hypoxia.” DeeAnn Visk, Dan Zhou, and Gabriel Haddad. Hypoxia and Consequences: From Molecule to Malady, New York Academy of Sciences, New York, NY, 2009.
“Over-expression of the Notch Intracellular Domain in Neural Cells Potentiates Long-Term Survival of Drosophila in Hypoxia.” DeeAnn W Visk, Dan Zhou, Gabriel Haddad. Program and Abstracts of the 49th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, p. 63, San Diego, CA, 2008.
“Molecular Genetic Analysis of Boule, a Regulator of Meiotic Entry in Spermatogenesis.” DL Williams-Gregory, X Guan, N Kondratenko, N Parziale, J Peng, SA Wasserman. 43rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA, 2002.
“Comparison of Muscle Creatine Kinase Gene Regulation in Stable Transfections, Transient Transfections and Transgenic Mice.” DeeAnn L Gregory, Jean N Buskin, Dorit Donoviel, Maraget A Shield, and Stephen D Hauschka. Keystone Symposium for Muscle Development, Snowbird, UT, 1994.