Dr. Brandon has over 30 years of experience in translational regenerative medicine, with expertise in neurobiology as well as cell and gene therapy product development. His work includes developing the first pluripotent stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy for diabetes and neurotrophic factor gene therapy for Parkinson’s and other diseases. Dr. Brandon started his career as a technician at New England Medical Center and received post-doctoral training in the lab of Fred Gage at the Salk Institute. He is a Trustee of the ALS Association and served as Chair of their Research Committee. He received his BS from Tufts University, PhD in Pharmacology and Neurobiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and a certificate in Biotechnology Project Management from UCSD and the UW Foster School of Business.   

Dr. Sagil James brings more than 17 years of combined academic research and industry experience in the manufacturing field to the Biomanufacturing Technician Program. An Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at California State University, Fullerton, his primary research areas are Advanced Manufacturing, Smart Manufacturing, and Process Modeling and Simulation. He received his master’s and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Jerry Jiang works on Lonza’s Personalized Medicine team to improve human health through advancing new cell therapy processes. He has had a diverse career in the biotech industry, starting as a research associate at Bristol-Myers Squibb before transitioning into sales and management with companies offering products such as primary cells, media, CRO services, environmental simulation chambers, 3D bioprinters, and the clinical cell and gene therapy market. He received his BS degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UCSD.

Will Junker spent the first half of his career in technical roles in the biopharmaceutical industry, including manufacturing, development, testing, validation, and automation. Since then, he has held leadership positions in validation, engineering, IT, and quality. In his current role with Kite Pharma, he leads the quality organization of the Viral Vector manufacturing facility in Oceanside, CA. He earned a degree in Chemical Engineering in Darmstadt, Germany.

Elizabeth Maravilla serves as the Director of Logistics and Supply Chain at ChromaDex Corp., a global bioscience company dedicated to healthy aging and the pioneer of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Prior to Chromadex, Elizabeth held various supply chain roles with organizations such as The Coca Cola Company, McCormick and Company, Anheuser Busch Inbev, and UPS Supply Chain Solutions. She holds a Masters in Global Logistics from CSULB and an MBA from the University of Southern California. 

Dr. Martin-Hansen specializes in the research, teaching, and learning of "how people learn science." She examines how pedagogical choices impact student learners with particular attention to how access, expectations, and pedagogy affect minoritized students in STEM. She is the Executive Director of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), a global organization for improving science teaching and learning through research. She is also a former president of the Association for Science Teacher Education.

Michael McGinley is the director of Phenomenex’s global application laboratories, where he is in charge of generating scientific content supporting the company’s products in the clinical, food, environmental, and biopharmaceutical industries. Over his 20 years at Phenomenex, Michael has served in various product development, marketing, and technical management roles, including the commercialization of its Gemini and Clarity product lines. His fields of expertise include HPLC method development, proteomics, oligonucleotide chemistry, and protein characterization. Michael previously held positions including Associate Scientist, Project Manager, and Laboratory Head at Amgen. Michael is a recognized chromatography expert and long-serving member of the editorial advisory board of LC/GC magazine. He received his degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Dr. Hyunsook Park's research focuses on understanding the regulatory mechanisms of pathogenic fungus (candida albicans) adapting to various host environments. She also collaborates with Cern Corporation, Inc. on a project to develop and commercialize an effective, non-drug treatment for fungal and bacterial vaginosis. She obtained her PhD in Microbiology at Ewha Womans University, Korea. Upon relocation to the United States, she did her post-doctoral fellowship in the Fungal Pathogenesis Research Group at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Park has been teaching and conducting her research at Cal State LA since 2008.

Dr. Edith Porter is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the Department of Biological Sciences at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Porter's research on antimicrobial effector molecules of mucosal surfaces includes a collaboration with Molecular Express, a technology company specializing in the application life science technologies. Dr. Porter is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), board member of the Southern California branch of ASM (SCASM), and a member of the American Association of Immunologists. She is a recipient of the 2020 CSUPERB Andreoli award and the 2020 ASM Education Award. She obtained her MD degree at the University of Mainz, Germany and completed a fellowship in Medical Microbiology. Upon relocation to the United States, she performed research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and joined Cal State LA in 2021. 

Glen Prosise has over 20 years of experience in the biological sciences field. He worked as a scientist at Hawaii Biotech, where he worked on biodefense and vaccine projects to develop small molecule inhibitors for botulinum toxin and anthrax lethal factor. He has also worked as an account manager for GE Healthcare, Waters Corporation, and Miltenyi Biotec, helping laboratories in their development of protein and cellular therapeutics. He has consulted on the transition of technology from academia to start-up companies, and developed the first full-face CPAP mask. Glen earned a BA in Psychology from CSULB, and both his PhD in Biochemistry and MBA from UC Irvine. 

Dr. Alan Taaghol is a Quality and Information Systems executive with 20 years of experience leading global biopharmaceutical and cell therapy organizations. He directs the implementation of business process automation solutions for effective and complaint development and the manufacturing of life-saving products for patients. He earned both his PhD and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, as well as a BS in Physics from Northeastern University.

Dr. Xin Wen is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University, Los Angeles, which she joined in 2006. She has taught courses including General Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, Instrumental Analysis, Inorganic Chemistry, Protein Structure and Function, and Introduction to Research. She has engaged many undergraduate and graduate students in interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry and biology, with a research lab working to solve real-world problems in biomedicine and biopharmaceuticals. Dr. Wen received her master's degree and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Rochester and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University.

Heather is a Technical QA/IT professional, speaker, and author with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and IT industries. She leads a team of technical professionals, facilitating workshops and mentoring at Xencor while implementing ISPE GAMP5 practices for Computer System Validation, Network Infrastructure Control and Compliance, and Data Integrity. Heather published the article "Quality Approaches to Software Management" in Quality magazine and is the author of the LinkedIn newsletter Mental Healthy. She volunteers with the American Society for Quality as chair-elect for the ASQ Software Division and holds an ASQ certification for Software Quality Engineer.

Dr. Howard Xu directs and works with key bioscience stakeholders to successfully run the Cal State LA BioStart bioentrepreneurs bootcamp. With biotech R&D experience in both industry and academia, he helps oversee the university’s initiatives in promoting a strong bioscience innovation ecosystem. He has also helped secure funding from L.A. County and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. He is a Professor of Microbiology and also Director of the Post-baccalaureate Certificate Program in Biotechnology. He was honored with the systemwide 2011 Andreoli Faculty Service Award and 2018 Faculty Research Award by CSUPERB (California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology). He was also awarded Outstanding Professor at Cal State LA in 2019.