Laura Castillo

While studying at the University of Florida, I worked in Dr. Dobson’s lab under Olivia. With her mentorship, I worked on synthesizing magnetic nanoparticles that released protein over time. In addition to training me on this, she taught me how to run BCA and micro-BCA assays to calculate the release in protein over time. I also learned how to passage stem cells and encourage differentiation using osteogenic media. Using these skills, after graduation I was able to start working in industry at ThermoFisher Scientific as a scientist in assay development and analytics. While working here I became interested in getting my masters. Olivia continued to help me and give me advice that helped me to get accepted into Duke University for Biomedical Engineering. I specialized in biotechnology, worked in Dr. Asokan’s gene therapy lab at Duke, and upon graduation started my new job as a scientist in assay analytics at Resilience where I have been since January 2022. I really appreciate having had Olivia as a mentor and the foundation it gave me to become successful in this field.