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Hire Loughlin G.

United Kingdom

Microbiologist | SME in BioTechnology, Fermentation, High Throughput, Flavours, Regulatory Testing and Yeast Genetics

Profile Summary

I studied Microbology (H. BSc) in University College Cork (U.C.C) where I wrote a review article on the Applications of Phage Therapy as an alternative therapeutic treatment for bacterial infections, in particular antibiotic resistant bacterial infections and for the treatment of biofilms. While completing my undergraduate degree I also created a quantitative method of measuring the activity of the enzyme Beta-Galactosidase in yeast which I wrote into a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for future use in the lab. After completing my undergraduate degree I was offered a Research Scientist position in the Yeast BioTechnology lab in U.C.C. My work in this group focused on the genetic regulation of flavour producing genes in yeast such as Kluyveromyces marxianus and Pichia fermentans. During this work I utilised technology including Gas Chromotography Mass Spec (GCMS-O), Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR), BioInformatics, BioReactors and HPLC. I created a fermented milk product which was analysed by a tasting panel. I presented my work at several international and national conferences and my research is published in several peer reviewed papers. I was awarded a research masters for my body of work. After this position I performed regulatory tested for Merck BioTesting services. I oversaw testing in the lab as well as performing testing myself. Merck tested pharmaceuticals from companies all over the world under the American, European and Japanese Pharmacopeias. While working in this position I was the main source of technical communication between the client and the company. I also assisted in regulatory audits of the company and wrote a range of SOPs for regulatory testing ensuring compliance to international guidelines. While working at Merck I was involved in Mycoplasma and Viral testing. After this I worked with a BioTech startup, Zymergen, in California. This company worked on refining existing biotechnological processes and increasing product yield or decreasing cost. I specifically designed bioreactor reduction strategies. Scaling 300 or more litre bioreactors down to 200-300 microlitre vessels to enable high-throughput testing using robotics. In my project I worked on a fungal micro-organism and used robotic platforms such as Tecan Evos and Fluents. At this company I was involved in experimental design and SOP writing for future testing.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Microbiology
• ★ Biotechnology & Bioengineering
• ★ Technical & Scientific Writing
• ☆ STEM
• ☆ Liquid Chromatography/HPLC
• ☆ Genetics
• ☆ PCR
• ☆ Food Science
• ☆ Flavor & Fragrance Chemistry
• ☆ Microbial Fermentation
• ☆ Protein/Enzyme Engineering
• ☆ Academic Testing
• ☆ Antibiotic Development
• ☆ Product Compliance
• ☆ Regulatory Writing
• ☆ Medical Writing

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Product Development

Writing Clinical Trial Documentation, Technical Writing, Newswriting

Research Fact Checking, Gray Literature Search, Systematic Literature Review, Secondary Data Collection

Product Development Formulation, Stability/Shelf Life Testing

Work Experience

Research Scientist III

Zymergen Inc

2018 - 2019

Scientist

Merck KGaA

2016 - 2018

Research Scientist

University College Cork BioSciences Institute

2013 - 2016

Education

Microbiology (MSc.)

University College Cork

2016 - 2016

Microbiology (Hon. BSc.)

University College Cork

2009 - 2013

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

(2018). Development and implementation of multilocus sequence typing to study the diversity of the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus in Italian cheeses . Microbial genomics.

(2016). Acquisition of the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus from unpasteurised milk by a kefir grain enhances kefir quality . FEMS microbiology letters.

Influence of carbon and nitrogen source on production of volatile fragrance and flavour metabolites by the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus @article{PMID:25308412, Title= {Influence of carbon and nitrogen source on production of volatile fragrance and flavour metabolites by the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus}, Author= {Gethins, Loughlin and Guneser, Onur and Demirkol, Aslı and Rea, Mary C and Stanton, Catherine and Ross, R Paul and Yuceer, Yonca and Morrissey, John P}, DOI= {10.1002/yea.3047}, Number= {1}, Volume= {32}, Month= {January}, Year= {2015}, Journal= {Yeast (Chichester, England)}, ISSN= {0749-503X}, Pages= {67—76}, URL= {https://doi.org/10.1002/yea.3047}} . Yeast (Chichester, England).

BOOK CHAPTER

(2017). Applications of Kluyveromyces marxianus in Biotechnology . Yeast Diversity in Human Welfare.