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Hire Dr. Dominick H.

United States

USD 65 /hr

PhD geneticist and molecular biologist offering expertise in writing, experimental design, and consulting.

Profile Summary

I am a PhD geneticist / molecular biologist and current postdoctoral fellow in bioengineering at MIT. My work spans advanced 3-D in vitro models, in vivo translational biology, and high-throughput ‘omics to study metabolic disease, liver injury, and cholangiopathies (biliary disease). Core Expertise: - RNA-seq & single-cell transcriptomics: Full pipeline from experimental design, QC, DESeq2/Seurat analysis, to publication-ready figures and pathway enrichment (VIPER, GSEA, Enrichr). - Organoid & microphysiological systems: Full experimental design and throughput of multiple in vitro system-based experiments. - Lentiviral / AAV / CRISPR - based assay design & validation: sgRNA selection, plasmid design, off-target assessment, and reporter-based editing in primary cell / cell lines. - Machine-learning histopathology: built two platforms for automated pathology of FFPE sections within the liver. - Grant & manuscript writing: > $2 M in funded NIH/DoD proposals as co-author; 7 peer-reviewed 1st author papers (Nat. Comms Bio, Hepatology, Lab on a Chip, Am. J. of Physiology, etc.); frequent reviewer for multiple biomedical journals. Selected Publications & Projects: - Liver-restricted Pkd1l1 knockout mouse – established the first genetically linked model of biliary atresia, revealing cilia-driven bile-duct dysmorphogenesis and fibro-inflammation (Hepatology, 2023). - BiliQML platform – automated biliary-tree morphometrics across seven cholangiopathy models, enabling high-content drug screens (Am. J. Physiol, 2024). - Progressive human hepatic insulin-resistance chip – vascularised liver system capturing lipid accumulation, cytokine shifts, and insulin-signalling decay (bioRxiv, 2025). Technical Stack: R/Bioconductor • Python (Scanpy, scvi-tools, scikit-learn) • Groovy • MATLAB • GraphPad Prism • BioRender/Illustrator • Fusion 360 (micro-fixture design) Average engagement ≤ 10 hours with clear milestones, fixed fees, and strict confidentiality—let’s accelerate your next discovery or investment.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Computational Biology
• ☆ Molecular Biology
• ☆ Genetics
• ☆ Omics
• ☆ Transcriptomics
• ☆ Lipidomics
• ☆ Genomics
• ☆ Epigenetics
• ☆ PCR
• ☆ Gene Expression Analysis
• ☆ Genome Sequencing
• ☆ Recombinant DNA
• ☆ RNA Sequencing
• ☆ Plasmid DNA
• ☆ DNA Damage & Repair
• ☆ Cell Biology
• ☆ Cell-Based Assays
• ☆ Cytochemistry
• ☆ Cell Signaling Pathways
• ☆ Gene Regulation
• ☆ Stem Cell Research
• ☆ Histology
• ☆ Biotechnology & Bioengineering
• ☆ Recombinant Protein Expression
• ☆ Bioprinting
• ☆ Biological Systems Engineering
• ☆ Cell Culture
• ☆ Primary Cells
• ☆ Cell Line Engineering
• ☆ 3D Cell Culture
• ☆ Synthetic Biology
• ☆ Biomolecular Engineering
• ☆ Gene Editing/CRISPR
• ☆ Immunohistochemistry
• ☆ Tissue Engineering
• ☆ Artificial Organs
• ☆ Gastroenterology & Hepatology
• ☆ Hepatitis

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing, General Proofreading & Editing

Research User Research, Meta-Research, Feasibility Study, Fact Checking, Scientific and Technical Research, Systematic Literature Review

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Image Processing, Image Analysis, Data Visualization, Data Processing

Work Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

June 2024 - Present

Education

PhD (Genetics and Molecular Biology)

Emory University

August 2020 - March 2024

BA (Biology)

University of San Diego

2015 - 2019

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

  NA

  January 2025 - January 2025

Publications

PREPRINT

Dominick J. Hellen, Jessica Ungerleider, Erin Tevonian, Pierre Sphabmixay, Priyatanu Roy, Caroline Lewis, Jacob Jeppesen, Damien Demozay, Linda G. Griffith (2025). A Microphysiological Model of Progressive Human Hepatic Insulin Resistance .

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Dominick J. Hellen, Meredith E. Fay, David H. Lee, Caroline Klindt-Morgan, Ashley Bennett, Kimberly J. Pachura, Arash Grakoui, Stacey S. Huppert, Paul A. Dawson, Wilbur A. Lam, et al. (2024). BiliQML: a supervised machine-learning model to quantify biliary forms from digitized whole slide liver histopathological images . American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

Dominick J. Hellen, Saul J. Karpen (2023). Genetic Contributions to Biliary Atresia: A Developmental Cholangiopathy . Seminars in Liver Disease.

Dominick J. Hellen, Ashley Bennett, Sudarshan Malla, Caroline Klindt, Anuradha Rao, Paul A. Dawson, Saul J. Karpen(2023). Liver-restricted deletion of the biliary atresia candidate gene Pkd1l1 causes bile duct dysmorphogenesis and ciliopathy . Hepatology. 77. (4). p. 1274--1286. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)

Dominick J. Hellen, Ashley Bennett, Sudarshan Malla, Caroline Klindt, Anuradha Rao, Paul A. Dawson, Saul J. Karpen (2023). Liver-restricted deletion of the biliary atresia candidate gene Pkd1l1 causes bile duct dysmorphogenesis and ciliopathy . Hepatology.

Adiya E. Otumala, Dominick J. Hellen, C. Alessandra Luna, Priscilla Delgado, Anjana Dissanayaka, Chidozie Ugwumadu, Oluwamayokun Oshinowo, Md. Mydul Islam, Luyao Shen, Saul J. Karpen, et al. (2023). Opportunities and considerations for studying liver disease with microphysiological systems on a chip . Lab on a Chip.

Dominick Hellen, Saul Karpen(2023). LiverQuant: An Improved Method for Quantitative Analysis of Liver Pathology . BIO-PROTOCOL. 13. (14). Bio-Protocol, {LLC}