Dr. Libby Handel
 Dr. Libby Handel is the Director of Biotechnology Programs at Palm Beach State College. She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology at the University of Colorado and M.S. degree in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois. Her research focused on mechanisms of gene transcription and cancer and specifically involved in investigating antiprogestins for the treatment of breast cancer and discovering novel signaling pathways for steroid hormones. She served as an Industry Agreement Specialist in Corporate Sponsored Research and Licensing at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and served as an independent biotechnology consultant to early stage companies.
Dr. Handel is presently charged with directing Palm Beach State's Biotechnology Program to meet current and future workforce needs of our emerging bioscience community. She has created over 30 internship opportunities at area research institutes and local industry. She presently directs 8 faculty members that develop and implement a laboratory intensive hands-on training program that consists of 11 courses serving 271 biotechnology majors. Under her leadership, the program has won grant funding from SUCCEED, DOE, Town of Jupiter and equipment manufacturers totaling $1.5M and pending proposals include NSF and CBJT-DOL. In addition, she created a pilot technology incubator housed in Palm Beach State's Biotechnology Department that allows scientists to perform proof-of-concept experiments and business start-up activities. She is currently Chair of the Town of Jupiter Bioscience Advisory Board, an active member of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County Life Science Steering Committee and member of the 2010 class of Leadership Palm Beach County.
Libby is a mother of three and a co-founder of The Pink Purse, a non-profit organization devoted to inspiring women to make a difference in their community.
http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/x461.xml?id=Handele
Dr. Alexandra Gorgevska
 Dr. Alexandra Gorgevska is a tenured professor of Biotechnology and Chemistry at Palm Beach State College. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Department of Chemistry at Wayne State University specializing in DNA-protein cross-links. Her research involved the investigation and discovery of novel mechanisms and structures of formalin cross-link formation between DNA and proteins that form as a result of the fixation process during biopsy preservation. She has worked as a research technician in the Vascular Research Laboratory at William Beaumont Hospital and a research fellow at the University of Michigan-Department of Physiology studying peripheral vascular occlusive disorders. She was a post-doctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the National Institute on Aging, where she investigated the mechanisms of premature aging disorders, primarily that of Werner's Syndrome.
Dr. Gorgevska is presently involved with the development and expansion of biotechnology curricula to meet the needs of the emerging bioscience community. In 2009, she was honored with the Distinguished New Faculty Award at the 20th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning. She is also a research mentor with the U.S. Army eCybermission program. Dr. Gorgevska is the Curriculum Development Manager for the Employ Florida Banner Center for Life Sciences at Palm Beach State College; which is a 3-year 1.2 million dollar grant-funded strategic plan to modernize Florida's workforce in order to meet the workforce needs of the state.
http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/x461.xml?id=Gorgevsa
Dr. Silvio Arango-Jaramillo DVM, MS, Ph.D.
 Dr. Silvio Arango-Jaramillo is currently serving as professor and Chairman of Palm Beach State College's Eissey campus Department of Sciences. As a former full time faculty member of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Publlic Health and the School of Medicine, Dr. Silvio's research included work on experimental HIV/AIDS vaccines, and immunological resistance to HIV-1 in vitro.
While serving as professor and Chairman of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine at the University of Valle, Cali, Colombia, Dr. Silvio was involved in the epidemiological survelillance of the rabies virus in bats, dogs and humans by immunofluorescence, Seller's stain of neurons, and mice intracerebral inoculation. Additionally, Dr. Silvio was also involved in studies of dengue virus and dengue hemorrhagic virus with inhibition haemaglutination test.
http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/x461.xml?id=Arangos
Dr. Tod Fairbanks
 Dr. Tod Fairbanks is a 38-year veteran of the healthcare industry. He began his career as a medical technologist/supervisor/clinical instructor at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont/UVM, Burlington, Vermont and then moved to an Assistant/Associate Professor position in Laboratory Sciences at the University of Illinois at the Medical Center, Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Rush University, Chicago and subsequently moved to Abbott Diagnostics at Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago where he worked on new worldwide diagnostic products. From Abbott, Dr. Fairbanks moved into the pharmaceutical industry including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pharmacia, where he worked for the last 17 years in global marketing, research, competitive intelligence, global new product development, global marketing, corporate development (M&A) and finally, licensing. The licensing position included evaluations of several hundred biotech and university partnering opportunities per year. Most of his pharmaceutical experience involves oncology and pharmacogenomics. Dr. Fairbanks also has a Master of Science degree in botany (cell biology of algae) and Master of Education degree in foundations of education.
Currently, Dr. Fairbanks provides consulting services on drug development/licensing/investing as well as the interface of drug and diagnostic products. He serves on the Town of Jupiter Economic Advisory Board, which reviews applicants for funding from the Economic Development Fund.
http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/x461.xml?id=Fairbant
Dr. Becky Mercer
 Dr. Becky A. Mercer earned her Ph.D. in Metabolic Sciences from the Department of Molecular Medicine at Columbia University in New York. During her graduate studies she investigated the cellular and genetic mechanisms involved in pulmonary emphysema, using animal models and human lung tissue analyses. She completed post-doctoral training in the Department of Cancer Biology at Scripps Florida, where she was a part of an interdisciplinary team that identified a novel protein component involved in cAMP-activated gene transcription. Prior to her postdoctoral position, Dr. Mercer served as an Editor at the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI). She holds a Certificate in Project Management from Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Mercer is currently an associate scientific project manager and scientific writer in the Lead Identification (High Throughput Screening) group at Scripps Florida. Dr. Mercer is also a Director at Ocean Ridge Biosciences (ORB), a Palm Beach Gardens-based biotechnology company specializing in gene expression, protein profiling, and RNA sequencing services, as well as preparation of biofluids such as serum, plasma, and amniotic fluid for molecular analysis. Dr. Mercer manages ORB's affiliate company DocuCheck Editors, a scientific grant writing and editing company, and has published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals on mechanisms of tobacco-related lung diseases.
http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/x461.xml?id=Mercerb
Dr. Raymond Pacovsky
 Ray received his PhD in Plant Sciences from Michigan State University for his work on modifying plant oils through selective trans-gene expression. Ray received a M.S. in Environmental Microbiology from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in endomycorrhizal and nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, and he was the first to identify endomycorrhzins, the unique gene products formed only by the root-fungus symbiosis. Ray has held editorial positions at Plant and Soil and Sciencia Agricola. Later he initiated an award-winning course entitled Presentations, Publications and Grants at the Univ. São Paulo. In 1994 ha was awarded the Field Teaching Award by the Department of Plant Sciences at Michigan State University. He has been an organic farming consultant with grape-growers in California and Brazil and is interested in transforming urban and agricultural residues into sustainable fuels.
http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/x461.xml?id=pacovskr
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