Title: Research Associate, RUO Assay Development
Employer: Illumina
Previous Role: QC Analyst, QA Validation Engineer Intern, Illumina

Andrea graduated in May of 2018 and is now a Research Associate at Illumina, with Steve Caldwell and DaTeng Lin! She worked in several labs during her time at Illinois, as well as for the prep staff, building her research skills.

Andrea began as an intern and became a full time employee in September of 2018. She is part of a team that develops methods for new genetic sequencing technologies and products. She is currently working on a project involving the sequencing of cell-free DNA for cancer detection. To do this, Andrea is testing the reagents used in a new sequencing workflow to replace the technology that is currently on the market. This requires performing lots of experiments in the lab, data analysis, and collaborating with multiple teams to achieve goals. In the end, her team hopes to create an optimized product that is easier to use, requires less hands-on time, and produces more robust results than the current product.

Previously, Andrea worked as a QC Analyst where she performed final testing on a variety of enzymes produced at the site, and participates in a variety of projects related to enzyme development and optimization. Most recently, she worked as part of a team to rebuild an assay used to determine enzyme activity. This required a lot of troubleshooting to develop and establish new testing specifications. Prior to this fix results were inconsistent, which made for a stressful time releasing products! Now, we are able to trust our results with confidence and send our enzymes out the door on-time!

In her internship she worked on a variety of quality assurance and quality control projects involving enzymes used in genetic sequencing technologies. More specifically, she studied a new technology that can be used to test the stability of enzymes at different temperatures. This technology was used to reduce the turn-around time for stability experiments from 12 weeks to 3 days.

Her IB degree provided her with the tools and networking opportunities that introduced her to Steve Caldwell, the biotechnology industry, and her current position at Illumina. Her degree demonstrated her ability to think about science from a larger perspective and solve problems with critical thinking.

As a recent addition to the workforce, Andrea would be a great person to talk to about the interview process, the biotech industry, or research. Contact Christina Swanson at alumnimentor@sib.illinois.edu if you would like to connect with Andrea.