Marie Dvorak Christ, Ph.D.

SUMMARY

Consultant to the Biomedical Device Industry providing services in chemical analysis, process trouble-shooting and design/engineering, product development, and project management.

SKILLS

• Biomaterials Expert
• Chemical Analysis – NMR (1- & 2-dimensional), LC/GC-MS, ES/MS, CE, HPLC/GPC
• Process Engineering
• Project Management
• Natural Product Recovery and Purification
• Carbohydrate and Peptide Synthesis and Analysis

EDUCATION

• 1994 Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California, Irvine.
  • Thesis: The Structural Characterization of Fucan Sulfate Polysaccharide from Sea Urchin by NMR Spectroscopy and Methylation Analysis.
    Advisor: Professor David A. Brant
• 1981 B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.

EXPERIENCE

April 2000-Present BioMediChem, Irvine California: Prinicipal Owner and Laboratory Director
Project Descriptions: Client names not included due to ongoing confidentiality.

• Hydrophobic Acrylate Intraocular Lens Material Development – Providing analytical chemistry support to client to support materials development efforts.
• Accommodating Silicone IOL- Completed biocompatibility testing including photostability, hydrolytic stability, exhaustive extraction, and provided other confidential analytical chemistry services to support process development.
• Dry Eye Formulation – Development of analytical methods for quality control of active ingredients.
• Heparin surface modified hydrophilic IOL – BioMediChem developed a heparin-surface modified hydrophilic acrylic IOL for a client. BioMediChem was involved at all levels including project management, biocompatibility testing at the BMC laboratory for ISO submission, and preparation of the technical file. The product is currently being sold in Europe. The FDA has granted an IDE for this IOL, and U.S. clinicals will begin in 2004.
• Hydrophilic Acrylate Intraocular Lens Manufacturing Process Improvements – Provided analytical support to evaluate potential manufacturing process changes in production of hydrophilic IOL's. Applied Electrospray/Mass Spectrometry and GC/Mass Spectrometry for residuals analysis of lenses.
• Heparin Coating Process Project – Responsible for the transfer of heparin coating process of PMMA IOL's from outside vendor to in-house process. Specified and managed procurement of all process equipment. Developed process improvements including plasma surface treatment. Led team from bench scale feasibility phase to final clinical production for Europe.

Sept 1999-April 2000 Medtronic Pulmonary Systems, Anaheim, CA: Product Development Consultant

• Heparin Coating Process Project – Designed and constructed pilot unit for heparin coating of cardiopulmonary devices, and executed experimental plan utilizing pilot unit to optimize heparin coating process for new products. Participated on team engaged in development of blood oxygenator with heparin-coated blood contact surfaces.
• Silicone Coating Project- Managed team responsible for development of blood oxygenator with silicone-coated blood contact surfaces. Successfully guided cross-functional team through qualification and validation phases to commercial release of the product.

March 99-May 99 Bausch & Lomb, Irvine, CA: Senior Chemistry Consultant

• Validation/troubleshooting of GC, HPLC and rheological test methods used by QC. Specified validation protocols, performed validation tests, completed final reports and provided training to QC personnel.

1997-1999 University of California, Riverside, Department of Chemistry: NIH Postdoctoral Fellow

• Research program focused on the binding of heparin oligosaccharides to histamine and peptides from extracellular matrix proteins. Activities included 1) characterization of heparin oligosaccharides and heparin-histamine complexes using advanced gradient NMR methods; 2) Solid-phase synthesis of peptides (including RP-HPLC purification) and their characterization by CE, LC-MS and two-dimensional NMR methods; 3) Management of Varian 500 MHz NMR spectrometer; 4) Management and training of undergraduate/graduate students in analytical methods development.

1996-1998 Ophtha-Med Inc./Advanced Biomedical Research, Brookline, MA: Consultant

• Designed and managed microbiological (P.E. Testing) and analytical pre-clinical studies evaluating a new anti-microbial polymer technology for its use in a variety of ophthalmic products. Technical data presented to potential corporate partners resulted in evaluation of technology by a major ophthalmic company. Other projects involved 1) developing HPLC/fluorescence-based analytical method for quantitative assay of active ingredient in a new contact lens solution and 2) troubleshooting problems with shelf-life stability of a dry-eye formulation.

1995-1996 University of California, San Diego, Cancer Center: NIH Postdoctoral Fellow

• Studied novel class of N-linked oligosaccharides found in bovine lung tissue. Recovered and purified bovine lung N-linked oligosaccharides from lung homogenate employing enzymolysis and multiple chromatographic purification steps. Applied GC/MS for oligo characterization. Synthetically modified oligos with fluorescent and radioactive isotope labels to enhance detection sensitivity.

1987-1994 University of California, Irvine, Department of Chemistry: Graduate Research Assistant /Teaching Assistant

• Defined, designed and implemented the research strategy to structurally characterize a sulfated polysaccharide from sea urchin eggs, essential to species-specific initiation of the fertilization process. Collected sea urchins eggs, applied wet chemistry methods to separate and purify polysaccharide and scaled up process to recover gram quantities of product. Applied analytical methods including GC-MS and two-dimensional NMR methods to characterize polysaccharide. Identified sulfate substitution differences in polysaccharides recovered from two different species. Also instructed labs in quantitative analytical chemistry, advanced instrumental methods and physical chemistry.

1981-1986 Ralph M. Parsons Company, Pasadena, CA: Department of Chemistry: Process Design Engineer

• Produced process flow diagrams, material and energy balances and equipment specifications for the design and construction of gas and oil production facilities.

PODIUM PRESENTATIONS

• Histamine Binding to Heparin-Derived Hexasaccharides, Presented at the XIX International Carbohydrate Symposium,

Aug 9-14, 1998, San Diego, CA.

• NMR and Molecular Modeling Studies of the Binding of Histamine by Heparin Hexasaccharides, Presented at the

Pacific Conference on Chemistry and Spectroscopy, Oct, 1997, Irvine, CA.

PUBLICATIONS

• Chuang, W.L., Christ, M.D. and Rabenstein D. L., Determination of the Primary Structures of Heparin- and Heparan Sulfate-Derived Oligosaccharides Using Band-Selective Homonuclear-Decoupled Two-Dimensional 1H NMR Experiments, Analytical Chemistry, 2001, 73, 2310-2316
• Christ, M.D., Chang, W.L., and Rabenstein D.L., An NMR and Molecular Modeling Study of the Site-Specific Binding of Histamine by Heparin, Chemically Modified Heparin and Heparin-Derived Oligosaccharides, Biochemistry 2000, 39, 3542-3555.
• Interaction of Heparin with a Synthetic Pentadecapeptide from the C-Terminal Heparin-Binding Domain of Fibronectin, Biochemistry 2000, 39, 3763-3773.
• Brant, D.A. and Christ, M.D., Realistic Conformational Modeling of Carbohydrates: Applications and Limitations in the Context of Carbohydrate High Polymers, In Computer Modeling of Carbohydrate Molecules, ACS Symposium Series No. 430, Alfred D. French and John W. Brady., Eds.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC 1990; pp 42-68.
• Christ, M.D., Ph.D. Thesis, The Structural Characterization of Fucan Sulfate Polysaccharide from Sea Urchin by NMR Spectroscopy and Methylation Analysis, University of California, Irvine, Sept. 94.

POSTERS

• "NMR Characterization of Heparin-Derived Oligosaccharides" Presented at The American Chemical Society 217th National Meeting, Anaheim, CA., March 21-25, 1999.
• "Preparation and Characterization of Heparin-Derived Oligosaccharides" Presented at The XIX International Carbohydrate Symposium, San Diego, CA, Aug. 9-14, 1998.
• "Unusual Oligosaccharides from Bovine Lung: N-Linked Glycosaminoglycans" Presented at XIIIth International Symposium on Glycoconjugates, Seattle, WA, USA, August 20-26, 1995.
• "Comparison of Egg Jelly Fucan Sulfate Polysaccharides from Sea Urchin by NMR Spectroscopy and Linkage Analysis" Presented at First International Conference on Polysaccharide Engineering, Trondheim, Norway, and June 6-8, 1994.
• "Structural Comparison of Egg Jelly Fucan Sulfate Polysaccharides from the Sea Urchins of S. purpuratus and S. franciscanus" Presented at The Second Annual Conference on Glycotechnology, La Jolla, CA, and May 16-18, 1994.

AFFILIATIONS

• Member, American Chemical Society
• Member, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
• Ophthalmological Associate, Research to Prevent Blindness

AWARDS

National Institute of Health Training Grant: Synthesis and Structure of Biological Macromolecules. June 88-June 91.