Long story short: I want to translate science into medicine. It’s why I did double grad school at the USC School of Pharmacy: earning a Master’s degree (MRSci) in the Management of Drug Development (MDD) at the same time as my PhD in Pharmacology. For extra fun, I took MBA/Entrepreneurship courses in the USC Marshall School of Business. Even my twitter feed is a mix of academic, pharma/biotech, and hip-hop news.

Long-term career goals

I’ve always admired the pharmaceutical industry for it’s focus one developing medicines, and my ultimate career goal is inspired by that: founding a research institute dedicated to drug discovery. I want to be in a position to be able to invest in innovation; both ideas and people. I’ve benefited from faculty and mentors willing to take a chance on me, from my time at Dodge City Community College to defending my dissertation at USC, and I want to have a long reaching impact on the underrepresented community in science as a whole. I see the value in deviating from the norm and pursuing challenges deemed too risky for traditional organizations. I know how something as small as getting a job as an undergraduate research assistant can change the course of a person’s life. I want to ensure that research opportunities not only push the boundaries of science, but change lives. I want to inspire the next generation of scientists, and show them how risks revolutionize medicine. While pursuing a scientific career, my thing has always been to show people that science itself can be used as a tool to change the world; individually, locally, and globally.

Training Plan

In the last year of my PhD, I knew I wanted more training in translational science, since I gained a lot of experience with in vitro and cell-based techniques, but was missing the ex vivo piece of the drug discovery pipeline. At the 2019 Research Society on Alcoholism conference, I met Dr. Marisa Roberto, and learned about her work in neurophysiology and addiction. Electrophysiology (ephys) is the gold standard in neuroscience and her lab was a hardcore ephys group, so when she mentioned an opening for a postdoctoral fellow, I saw an opportunity to challenge myself. Most importantly, I saw an opportunity to be in an academic environment with close ties to the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry, so in June of 2020, I joined Dr. Marisa Roberto’s laboratory as a T32 Postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Research Institute in the Department of Molecular Medicine. My rationale was: the pharmaceutical industry transforms academic creativity and freedom into novel therapeutic strategies, and while many important discoveries in medicine occur in universities, they’re not ones bringing drugs through phase III clinical trials or manufacturing drugs at scale, which is why industry partnerships become important. Collaboration is the most effective way to ensure that laboratory discoveries benefit people suffering from diseases, and the Scripps Research and La Jolla in general are a hub of innovation. Plus, to be overly honest, I was afraid of working with mice/rats (I still am!) but I wanted to prove that I could succeed at anything I put my mind into, even things I was uncomfortable or unfamiliar with.

My training laid the foundation for my over-arching career goal: leading discovery campaigns and bringing drugs to market. Innovation and need should be the driving force for all research, be it academic or industrious, and my guiding principle has always been translating basic science into therapies. As a scientist, the discovery process is exhilarating, but I don’t do science because it’s fun; I do it so people benefit from my work. That requires more than just being a good scientist, which is why I earned a Master’s degree in The Management of Drug Development concurrently and took courses at USC’s Marshall School of business in entrepreneurship. I also had the opportunity to visit several NIH-sponsored alcohol research centers as a graduate student (the University of Illinois, Chicago; the Medical University of South Carolina; the Scripps Research Institute) and have a better understanding of how different kinds of organizations operate.

Academic Background

Dodge City Community College

I attended Dodge City Community College for two years before transferring to Kansas State University.  The decision was partly financial, since I was accepted into several Universities in California but as an out-of-state student, which meant higher tuition that my parents and I couldn’t afford. On paper, my community college did not have the resources and amenities that a big-name university has, but it did have passionate faculty, which made me who I am today. My favorite professor was Dr. Stephen Ellis, who taught Organic Chemistry and Physics. I went to his office one day to ask a non-serious question about reaction rates, and after a while he suggested that I sign up to become a tutor in calculus. After my first tutoring session, I was hooked.  I’ve always loved talking about chemistry, math, and biology, but helping students understand the concepts and gain appreciation of these subjects gave purpose to my success in school.  In addition to studying to advance my own knowledge, I learned the value of helping others understand tough concepts. This experience would ultimately lead me to become an undergraduate teaching assistant for the General Chemistry lab at K-state.  Dr. Ellis changed my life by going out of his way to help me learn and got to know me personally, which made me feel like more than just a student.  Another professor, Barbara Spohr, invited me to join the Kansas Bridges to the Future Program, which would pay for my tuition at Kansas State University and pair me with a research mentor in the Developing Scholars Program (DSP.)

Kansas State University and the Developing Scholars Program

DSP gives first generation minority undergrads the chance to do research and present their work the annual DSP research symposium.  On top of that, we had monthly activities for professional development and community service. Being part of DSP showed me how far proper guidance and support can elevate a person, which is why I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to serve as a mentor to underrepresented minority students.

Proteomic analysis of Manduca sexta molting fluid My first research project was in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Kanost (Dept of Biochemistry; May 2012 - May 2013) at Kansas State University, which is looking at ways to reduce the number of the tobacco horn worm, Manduca sexta, an agricultural pest to thousands of farmers across the world. The goal of the project was to understand how proteins in the molting fluid of the tobacco horn worm, Manduca sexta , regulate and catalyze the degradation of insect cuticle. I started the project by collecting molting fluid from M. sexta caterpillars and performed protein analyses (SDS-PAGE, western blots, quantifying proteins, etc) . Once my collection techniques were perfected, samples that I isolated were sent out for 2D PAGE separation and mass spectrometry quantification. After quantification, I used the NCBI BLAST tool to analyze the proteins present in our sample.  Notably, one protein I helped identify was found to resemble the human angiotensin converting enzyme. Since the protein was highly abundant, and native PAGE analysis showed enzymatic activity (casein gel), our group decided to study its function. First, I isolated the CDS of the gene from insect cuticle by performing reverse transcription PCR and cloned the gene into a plasmid. I then transformed this vector into bacteria for protein expression, and purified the product. Thanks to the rigorous techniques I learned, I was able to refold the protein and confirm that the enzyme was in fact catalytically active against casein and gelatin. 

Modulating cell junctions for drug delivery After developing my molecular biology skills, I was interested in research that could more directly impact human health. After some searching, I applied for the 2013 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the University of Kansas, and chose the laboratory of Dr. Michael Wang .  Dr. Wang’s lab was interested in increasing the permeability of drugs used to treat Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT).  These drugs have low bioavailability, and cannot cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), which severely limits their efficacy in treating HAT.  We wanted to find out if we could modulate the junctions between cells using peptides derived from E-cadherins, the proteins that form these junctions in the first place. My project consisted of maintaining and culturing various cell lines used to model the BBB and the gastrointestinal tract, preparing various buffers and solutions, and carrying out the drug permeability experiments.  During the course of the summer, I learned how to work with mammalian cells in a sterile environment, how translational scientists apply basic scientific findings to solve health-related problems, and plan/execute sensitive experiments.  By the end of my efforts, I was able to demonstrate that E-cadherins increased the permeability of drug molecules in vitro. We ultimately published our findings in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Dopamine and mating behavior in crickets Having become familiar with molecular and biochemical techniques, I wanted to focus more on how biochemistry can affect the whole organism. After my summer at KU, I earned a fellowship from the Ecological Genomics Institute at Kansas State University (funded by the National Science Foundation) and joined Dr. Jeremy Marshall’s laboratory (Department of Entomology; Aug. 2013- May 2015) which was interested in behavioral ecology and crickets. Crickets are interesting because during mating, males transfer genetic material to females via a spermatophore, a protein capsule that contains genetic material which gets physically attached to females during copulation. Interestingly, HPLC-ECD experiments have shown that dopamine (DA) is also found in the spermatophore of male crickets in high amounts. The purpose of my project was to determine why male crickets might be transferring large amounts of dopamine (DA) to females during mating, a phenomenon exclusive to crickets. The fact that DA (generally involved in reward and learning pathways) was found in the spermatophore implied that it might have an effect on evolutionary selection and sexual conflict between crickets. For this project, I helped design and conduct mating experiments, maintained cricket populations, and collected spermatophores for HPLC-MS analysis.  One of the coolest experiments we designed was feeding the females DA during mating and seeing its effects in real-time. When mating, females mount the males, and drink male hemolymph from its tibial spurs. I knocked out the males with CO2, covered their tibial spurs with crazy glue + DA, and let them mate with females the next day. Results from my project suggest that DA plays a significant role on timing of female re-mating, but has a “punishment” effect, as dopamine transfer was inversely correlated with mating time. My studies also showed that egg-laying was significantly affected by DA, suggesting a role in sperm competition.  I presented findings from this investigation at the 2013 Ecological Genomics symposium.

Graduate school objectives

I joined Dr. Daryl Davies’ laboratory at the USC School of Pharmacy to gain experience as a translational scientist; integrating basic science into a drug discovery/development effort for patients. Dr. Davies, a recognized scientist with bench to bedside experience, has pioneered the discovery of P2X4 receptors (P2X4Rs) as targets for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and succeeded in demonstrating that ivermectin (an anti-parasitic drug) potentiates P2X4Rs in cells and in reduces drinking in AUD mouse-models. This work culminated in a human subject trial that determined the safety of acute ivermectin in the AUD disease state. These processes are modeled after industry drug discovery campaigns, as Dr. Davies routinely reminds me that my training to become a translational scientist goes deeper than simply proving or disproving a hypothesis. To this end, my investigations provided mechanistic answers regarding the role of P2X4Rs in AUD. Longer term, this strategy will provide new insights regarding AUD in the laboratory and will help guide treatment in the clinic. In this regard, my graduate research experience mimicked the effort required to develop novel treatments for patients, and impact the AUD field while providing a foundation for my future career goals.

Between laboratory discovery and clinical utility lie a multitude of regulatory challenges, as in vitro discoveries do not guarantee translation to humans (the regulatory environment is an area many scientist do not recognize as a challenge). Fortunately, Dr. Davies was the Director of the Management of Drug Development (MDD), a MS program in the School of Pharmacy. As part of my training plan, I had the opportunity to learn about the regulatory requirements for moving molecules into human testing. In combining my scientific training with regulatory training in the MDD program, I can appreciate the clinical hurdles involved in drug development, and am better prepared to make a real impact on patients’ lives.

As a graduates student , I visited two alcohol research centers, where Dr. Davies’ colleagues, Dr. Mark Brodie and Dr. John Woodward, are faculty members. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Alcohol Research Center, I am involved in several preclinical projects, and am learning to confront the difficulties academic innovators face when integrating discoveries into the clinic frameworks (and vice versa), a key skill in developing effective therapeutics.

Outside of the Laboratory (Leadership and Community Engagement)

At USC, I was engaged in both the academic and local communities.  As soon as I started grad school, I joined the student chapter of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists as the marketing and outreach director (2016), and in 2017, I was elected President.  My responsibilities included enlisting local and national scientists for our campus-wide seminar series, and organizing our biggest event, Moving Targets: an all-day symposium centered on a single topic in research. Our board of directors chose the 2017 symposium topic to be Precision Medicine, and featured seven researchers from across the United States, including the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) director Dr. Jean C. Zenklusen.  My goal was to break last year’s record participation of 200 attendees, which we surpassed by 39.  We also held a poster competition for local undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs, and by personally contacting the local UC and CSU schools, we achieved a record number of 36 poster submissions.  I was also on the board of directors for the Pharmacy Graduate Alliance, the school of pharmacy’s social activities committee.  I had a difficult time making friends and transitioning from rural Kansas life to an urban environment like Los Angeles, and want to help current and future students with similar issues. 

I also helped first generation college bound minority families understand and succeed in the application process by serving as a mentor for “College Bound Today.” I went through these challenges and want to use my position to help young minds overcome obstacles in their education.  Scientists and professors aren’t the first people who come to mind when thinking of those who serve underrepresented communities, but they’ve had a remarkable impact on my life. I have a 11-year-old brother who not only looks up to me but tells everyone that he “wants to do science like Larry”. Because of him, my career goal is not just to break down barriers, but to create new opportunities. In pursuing my PhD, my esearch advisor, Dr. Daryl Davies, not only helped me achieve my academic goals, but shared my goal of increasing diversity in STEM, as his lab has historically provided mentorship for minority high school students interested in biomedical research as part of the “Science, Technology and Research (STAR) program.  Dr. Davies being the Director of the STAR program meant that during the course of my PhD, I had the opportunity to mentor 4 high school students, as well as 12 undergraduates interested in medicine and research. I have chosen to dedicate my life to science, and in that realm, my goal is the promotion and advancement of diversity in STEM, so that future students, like my younger brother will get an opportunity to pursue their passion without limitations.