Daniel Pers, PhD

Daniel Pers, PhD has a varied work experience in the fields of molecular and cellular biology, insect-based livestock feed production, and environmental health. From 2022 to present, they have been a Scientist in Molecular and Cellular Biology at SalioGen Therapeutics. From 2020 to present, they have been a Scientific Advisor (Board of Advisors) at EntoLabs.ai, where they developed a biological plan for prototype and optimizations to increase quality/yield and to customize chemical composition of an insect-based livestock feed product derived from restaurant food waste, and assisted in generating investor pitch decks and proposal for NSF SBIR/STTR program funding. From 2020 to present, they have been a Postdoctoral Scholar at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where they developed an IP-MS protocol leading to the identification of 30 novel R-Loop interacting proteins at mutagenic replication-transcription conflicts in a model bacterial system. From 2018 to 2020, they were a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, Riverside, studying the evolutionary development of aphid-Buchnera symbioses using novel functional genomic approaches. From 2012 to 2018, they were a Teaching Assistant (Cellular and Microbiology) and Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Illinois at Chicago, overseeing and teaching 2 sections (25+ students per) of 2 different upper-level biology laboratory courses, preparing materials for, setting up, and supervising laboratory course, teaching pre-lab lectures, creating weekly quizzes, grading formal laboratory reports, and administering exams, as well as studying the evolution of the molecular composition of the Nasonia Dorsoventral Patterning Gene Regulatory Network. From 2011 to 2012, they were a North Pacific Groundfish Observer at Alaskan Observers, Inc., managing catch and bi-catch quotas on 3 commercial fishery boats by analyzing species level composition data per haul, conducting biometric and genetic analysis of a subset of fish species and all avian and mammalian bi-catch, and developing/performing an unbiased procedure to collect, process, and measure commercial fishery catches. Daniel was also an Animal Hospital/Environmental Quality Intern at Brookfield Zoo, overseeing environmental health of dozens of aqueous habitats to assist in overall animal health and care, conducting daily water chemistry analysis to determine water quality and chemical composition, and assessing animal health through the monitoring of abiotic factors and microbial contamination. Daniel was an Illinois Natural Surveys Intern at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, conducting visual surveys for an endangered species of rattlesnake, taking population richness and diversity data, and weather conditions. Finally, they were a Bacteriology Intern at the Illinois Department of Agriculture: Animal Disease Lab, and a Biology Laboratory Coordinator at Knox College, overseeing 18 sections (25+ students per) of 3 different introductory biology laboratory courses, designing, conducting, and grading laboratory activities as a supplement to corresponding lecture course, and maintaining, repairing, cleaning, and preparing equipment and materials for introductory labs.

Daniel Pers obtained a Bachelor's Degree Cum Laude from Knox College in 2010, with a major in Biology, Environmental Studies, and Chemistry. Daniel then pursued a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD from the University of Illinois Chicago, which they completed in 2018 with a major in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology.