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Haley Smith |
Inside MITRE's Biotech Lab
Haley Smith
April 2007
One of the many things our customers and sponsors rely on is MITRE's
ability to support them in their work—whether it's ongoing
effort in a traditional field or in an emerging technology. As a
result, MITRE often broadens its strategic focus to include new
areas of research. One such area is biotechnology. In 2006 MITRE
made biological defense a new strategic focus and built a state-of-the-art
biotechnology/nanotechnology laboratory on its McLean, Virginia,
campus to support this effort.
The new biotech lab is currently home to nine projects and MITRE's
biosafety officer Haley Smith. Smith came to MITRE in January 2005
when the lab was still under development. She now provides comprehensive
support to the biotech lab—everything from collecting experimental
data to monitoring lab safety features—and her efforts support
projects and customers throughout MITRE.
Smith first learned about MITRE while at Penn State University
working on her master's degree in biotechnology. "My master's degree
program required an internship," she says, "and mine was at Walter
Reed Army Institute of Research [WRAIR], a collaborator with MITRE.
I was actually brought in to do the laboratory work for MITRE while
working at WRAIR." After graduation she joined MITRE as an artificial
intelligence engineer.
Smith's work over the past two years has covered a variety projects,
including several internally sponsored research projects. In one
of them she developed a computational model for the FAS pathway
of apoptosis (programmed cell death). Another focused on the early
diagnosis of biological warfare agent exposure. She also worked
on a synthetic biology project. "My role in the research was to
collect all of the experimental data," she says.
Safety is Paramount
In the fall of 2006, Smith took over the job as biosafety officer
for the Experimental Laboratory Safety Committee (ELSC). The ELSC
is an internal group at MITRE responsible for maintaining safety
in the lab. Specifically, as the biosafety officer Smith oversees
the laboratory work being conducted in the biotech lab. She explains,
"In my position, I am responsible for the daily monitoring of safety
procedures and lab work. In addition, I meet with the ELSC twice
a month to discuss any issues with the lab. This includes handling
new equipment requests, ordering special chemical and biological
materials people need, and ensuring that everything is running safely
and smoothly. The ELSC also conducts a monthly lab inspection—again
just making sure everything is running properly and safely."
Beyond her work monitoring safety procedures, Smith's job also
has her collaborating with other groups within and outside of MITRE.
"I interact with the members of the Institutional Bio/Nano Safety
Committee [IBNC] as part of my job as the biosafety officer for
the ELSC," she says. "This is the external group responsible for
approving all laboratory protocols and ensuring they are carried
out in a safe and ethical manner. There are currently seven members
on the board who come from various government and academic institutes.
In addition, I also work with our collaborators out at WRAIR."
Smith clearly enjoys her biotech research and the opportunity to
work in the brand-new biotech lab. "I think that breaking new ground
in experimental and biological work is one of the most enjoyable
aspects of my job," she says. "Plus, MITRE's collaborations within
and outside the corporation enables me to work in some particularly
interesting areas. I also appreciate the flexible environment at
MITRE that allows you to learn about new technologies."
When she's not hard at work in the biotech lab, Smith enjoys pursuing
a new passion—fencing. "It is something that I started after
I finished graduate school two years ago. I love it and try to fence
whenever possible."
MITRE's Biotechnology Research Program
Biological defense is a new area of investment for
MITRE, which focuses on biotechnology to help government
agencies with one of their most challenging issues:
dealing with potential bio-related incidents. The company's
expertise in biotechnology has expanded over the past
few years, with specialists in bioinformatics, bioforensics,
and bioengineering. As part of this focus, MITRE's research
program currently includes several
projects in biotechnology.
Synthetic Biology – Produce
modified proteins capable of binding to various small
molecules associated with specific industrial processes
and producing a remotely observable signal in response.
Universal Biosensing Platform –
Develop a more generalized sensing platform to identify
a larger, possibly unlimited, number of pathogens or
organisms, by leveraging microarray technology and automated
processing expertise.
Bio-threat Aircraft Warning Systems
– Develop a rapid, reliable, reagentless, and
miniature biosensor system that can be deployed on board
aircraft to limit the spread of infectious diseases
and biological warfare agents and assist with containment
strategies.
Pathogen Capture Films Technology Transfer
– Develop MITRE-patented technology related to
biodegradable glycoprotein films and micelles for the
purpose of capturing bacteria from water, saline solution,
plastic surfaces, food, and other matrices.
Human Monoclonal Antibodies for Neutralization
and Diagnosis of H5N1 – Exploit a new
technology for the development of human monoclonal antibodies;
the aim is to generate therapies against infectious
diseases.
USAMRID Biotech – Quantify and
develop a biological response to multiple low-level
exposures to chemical agents in an animal model.
Camelid Immunomolecules for Advanced Biosensing
– Apply camelid derived reagents against biological
toxins to the next generation of field deployable biosensors
and detection platforms.
Optically Sensed Tags – Develop
optically-sensed tags based on induced chemical interactions
and emissions for detecting low concentrations of chemicals
and materials over a range of standoff distances.
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—by Kay M. Upham
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