Cancer Scientist Researcher, Oncology

4500 Worth Street Philadelphia, PA 19124 Phone: 215.948-9285 Ext 104 Fax: 215.948-9284 Email: [email protected] Web: www.manufacturingonline.org SANDRA V. FERNANDEZ, Ph.D.

CANCER SCIENTIST RESEARCHER, ONCOLOGY

A molecular and cellular scientist with a strong background in cancer biology, preclinical studies, biomarkers and DNA methylation. Experience in the conception and development of new scientific projects, and writing of proposals, project evaluations, budgets reports, and scientific manuscripts. Extensive expertise in multiple research assays to answer complex biological questions and aid in novel discoveries. Experience with various biomarker methodologies such as ELISA, qPCR, comparative genomic hybridization, microarrays, and protein arrays. Strong communication skills to present findings at scientific conferences and work in collaboration with research teams to produce successful results while meeting tight deadlines.

Key Skills Preclinical Research • Oncology • Biomarkers • Epigenetics • Preclinical studies • Drug Development & Discovery • Genetics • Genomics • Circulating tumor cells (CTC) •

Personal Profile Strong scientific background; broad experience in drug discovery, molecular biology and genetics. Excellent time management, and analytical skills. Adaptable; experienced in working in diverse and multi-cultural teams. Excellent interpersonal skills; highly motivated to establish effective and productive relationships in the workplace, involved, good listener, likes training and coaching people, very strong work ethics.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY Philadelphia, PA Research Assistant Professor February 2013 to Present Medical Oncology Department

Oversaw and conducted preclinical research projects; collaborated with physicians from the Medical Oncology Department and pharmaceutical companies in the development of new projects. Research projects included: “Study of a new FAK1/ALK inhibitor, CEP- 37440, on inflammatory breast cancer and triple negative breast cancer”, “Study of the BET inhibitor JQ1 on breast cancer”, “Study of circulating tumor cells isolated from patients with metastatic breast cancer” and “DNA methylation in breast cancer progression”.

 Gained vast experience in oncology, in particular preclinical studies in breast cancer.  Developed areas encompass novel targets in oncology. 4500 Worth Street Philadelphia, PA 19124 Phone: 215.948-9285 Ext 104 Fax: 215.948-9284 Email: [email protected] Web: www.manufacturingonline.org  Developed pre-clinical studies using different drugs tested against breast cancer cell lines; in vitro and in vivo experiments using mice to test FAK1/ALK (CEP- 37440 from Teva Pharmaceuticals) and BET (JQ1) inhibitors.  Gained vast experience in DNA methylation using human tissue and plasma samples, MeDip-seq.  Developed areas of research using human circulating tumor cells (CTC); isolated single CTCs using DEParray for molecular analysis of several mutations present in matching breast tissue biopsies.  Developed studies that involved biopsies (tissue samples, pleural effusions and blood) from breast cancer patients to study biomarkers of the disease.  Responsible for developing and writing projects in order to work in collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies (Teva; Serono; Foundation Medicine); budget negotiation, presentation of the results (reports and oral presentations).  Additional experience in directly leading / managing others.  Developed IRB protocols in order to use human samples.

FOX CHASE CANCER CENTER Philadelphia, PA Assistant Research Professor September 2010- December 2012

Oversaw and conducted preclinical research projects; collaborated with physicians working on the analysis of human breast cancer samples. Research projects included: “DNA methylation studies in premalignant lesions of the breast, ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive ductal carcinoma”, and “The effect of retinoic acid on re- differentiation of early transformed breast epithelial cells”.  Established new human breast cancer cell lines from pleural effusions of breast cancer patients.  Extensive experience working with human primary cells.  Evaluated putative targets by analysis of gene and genomic profiling data.  Established breast tumor xenograft models in mice to study the effect of different drugs on primary tumor growth and metastatic lesions.

FOX CHASE CANCER CENTER Philadelphia, PA Research Associate September 2002- December 2010

Conducted multiple research projects; collaborated with skilled and cross-functional research teams. Research projects included: “Biomarkers of breast cancer progression”, “The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) as chemo-preventive agents in breast cancer” and “Studies of biomarkers in tissue and plasma samples from patients with invasive breast cancer”. 4500 Worth Street Philadelphia, PA 19124 Phone: 215.948-9285 Ext 104 Fax: 215.948-9284 Email: [email protected] Web: www.manufacturingonline.org  Gained extensive experience in cell culture, 3D culture, laser capture microdissection.  Gained extensive experience in molecular biology techniques such as Western blots, ELISA, microarrays, comparative genomic hybridization, gene cloning, sequence analyses, DNA methylation.  Gained experience with in vivo experiments using mice.  Subject matter expert in the BCRL’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols, along with regulations and compliance in handling mice, injection of human tumor cells, following up tumor development, and sample collection.  Supervised and mentored team members, graduate students, volunteers, and visitor scientists.

GEMA BIOTECH Buenos Aires, Argentina Senior Scientist, Group Leader July 2000- August 2002

Conducted research projects that involved the production of phage display antibodies, and the study of molecular biomarkers of breast cancer, colon cancer and heart diseases by differential display (DD).  Developed the protocol to perform phage display.  Gained experience in DNA and RNA isolation from human samples, PCR, cloning, phage display, screening of the libraries.  Supervised two technicians.  Presented the results in internal meetings.

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL RICARDO GUTIERREZ Buenos Aires, Argentina Microbiology Scientist September 1999- July 2000

Conducted studies in order to characterize bacteria isolated from children with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Performed microbiology techniques to isolate and characterize bacteria; developed PCR analysis and ELISA assays for detection of Shiga toxin E. coli in children with HUS.

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Lincoln, NE Postdoctoral Research Associate April 1996- August 1999 Department of Veterinary and Medical Sciences Area of work: Microbiology and molecular biology 4500 Worth Street Philadelphia, PA 19124 Phone: 215.948-9285 Ext 104 Fax: 215.948-9284 Email: [email protected] Web: www.manufacturingonline.org Conducted studies in order to characterize Escherichia coli hemolytic activity, and studies to characterize E. coli isolated from cows responsible for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in children.

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS Ph.D. in Molecular Biology* University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 1996).

Master and Bachelor’s degrees in Molecular Biology* University of Buenos Aires (UBA), School of Sciences, Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 1990).

*U.S. Equivalency by World Education Services (WES); GPA: 3.43

Certified to run CellSearch (J&J) for the isolation of circulating tumor cells from human blood (2013)

AWARDS  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania- The House of Representatives Citation, 2010.  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania- The House of Representatives Citation, 2014.

PUBLICATIONS 1- Fernandez SV, Xing J, Kapur V, Libby S, Barletta RG and Moxley RA (1998). Regulation of the Escherichia coli sheA gene and characterization of its hemolytic activity. FEMS Microbiology Letters 168 (1): 85-90 2-Fernandez SV, Russo I, Mohamed Lareef, Balsara B. and Russo J (2005). Comparative genomic hybridization of human breast epithelial cells transformed by estrogen and its metabolites. Int J Oncol 26 (3): 691-5 3- Fernandez SV, Russo IH and Russo J. (2006). Estradiol and its metabolites 4- hydroxyestradiol and 2-hydroxyestradiol induce mutations in human breast epithelial cells. Int J Cancer 118 (8): 1862-8 4- Chen JQ, Contreras RG, Wang R, Fernandez SV, Shoshani L, Russo IH, Cereijido M, Russo J. (2006). Sodium/potassium ATPase (Na+, K+-ATPase) and ouabain/related cardiac glycosides: a new paradigm for development of anti- breast cancer drugs? Breast Cancer Res Treat 96 (1):1-15 5- Russo J, Balogh GA, Chen J, Fernandez SV, Fernbaugh R, Heulings R, Mailo DA, Moral R, Russo PA, Sheriff F, Vanegas JE, Wang R, Russo IH (2006). The concept of stem cell in the mammary gland and its implication in morphogenesis, cancer and prevention. Front Biosci. 11:151-72 6- Russo J, Fernandez SV, Russo PA, Fernbaugh R, Sheriff FS, Lareef HM, Garber J, Russo IH (2006). 17-Beta-estradiol induces transformation and tumorigenesis in human breast epithelial cells. FASEB J. 20 (10): 1622-34 4500 Worth Street Philadelphia, PA 19124 Phone: 215.948-9285 Ext 104 Fax: 215.948-9284 Email: [email protected] Web: www.manufacturingonline.org 7- Saeed M, Rogan E, Fernandez SV, Sheriff F, Russo J, Cavalieri E (2007). Formation of depurinating N3 Adenine and N7 Guanine adducts by MCF-10F cells cultured in the presence of 4-hydroxyestradiol. Int J Cancer 120 (8):1821-4 8- Tiezzi DG, Fernandez SV and Russo J (2007). Epithelial mesenchymal transition during the neoplastic transformation of human breast epithelial cells by estrogen. Int J Oncol. 31 (4): 823-7. 9- Huang Y, Fernandez SV, Goodwin S, Russo PA, Russo IH, Sutter T and Russo J (2007). Epithelial to mesenchymal transition in human breast epithelial cells transformed by 17-beta estradiol. Cancer Res 67 (23): 11147-11157. 10- Kocdor H, Kocdor MA, Russo J, Snider KE, Vanegas JE, Russo IH, Fernandez SV* (2009). Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) prevents the transformed phenotypes induced by 17 beta-estradiol in human breast epithelial cells. Cell Biol Int. 33 (11): 1135- 1143. 11- Fernandez SV and Russo J. Estrogen and xenoestrogens in breast cancer (2010). Toxicol Pathol 38 (1): 110-122. 12- Fernandez SV*, Snider KE, Wu Y-Z, Russo IH, Plass C and Russo J. DNA methylation changes in a human cell model of breast cancer progression (2010). Mutation Res.688 (1-2): 28-35. 13- Wargon V, Fernandez SV, Goin M, Giulianelli S, Russo J, Lanari CLM. Hypermethylation of the progesterone receptor A in constitutive antiprogestin resistant mouse (2010). Breast Cancer Res Treat 126 (2): 319-32. 14- Fernandez SV*. Estrogen, alcohol consumption and breast cancer (2011). Alcohol Clin Exp Res 35 (3): 389-391. Review article 15- Fernandez SV*, Huang Y, Snider KE, Zhou Y, Pogash TJ and Russo J. (2012) Expression and DNA methylation changes in human breast epithelial cells after bisphenol A exposure. Int J Oncol 41(1): 369-77 16- Robertson FM, Chu K, Fernandez SV, Mu Z, Zhang X, Liu H, Boley KM, Alpaugh RK, Ye Z, Wright MC, Luo AZ, Oraes R, Wu H, Zook M, Barsky SH, Krishnamurthy S, Cristofanilli M (2012). Genomic profiling of pre-clinical models of inflammatory breast cancer identifies a signature of epithelial plasticity and suppression of TGFβ signaling. J. Clin Exp Pathol 2 (5): 1-11 17- Fernandez SV*, Robertson FM, Pei J, Aburto-Chumpitaz L, Mu, Chu K, Alpaugh RK, Huang Y, Cao Y, Ye Z, Cai KQ, Boley KM, Klein-Szanto AJ, Devarajan K, Addya S and Cristofanilli M* (2013). Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC): Clues for Targeted Therapies. Breast Cancer Res Treat 140 (1): 23-33 18- Mu Z, Li H, Fernandez SV, Alpaugh RK, Zhang R and Cristofanilli M (2013). EZH2 knockdown suppresses the growth and invasion of human inflammatory breast cancer cells. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 32, 70: 1-9 19- Robertson FM, Petricoin III EF, Van Laere SJ, Bertucci F, Chu K, Fernandez SV, Mu Z, Alpaugh K, Pei J, Circo R, Wulfkuhle J, Ye Z, Boley KM, Liu H, Moraes R, Zhang X, DeMaria R, Barsky SH, Sun G and Cristofanilli M (2013). Presence of anaplastic lymphoma kinase in inflammatory breast cancer. SpringerPlus 2: 497 20- Mu Z, Klinowska T, Dong X, Foster E, Womack C, Fernandez SV, Cristofanilli M (2014). AZD8931, an equipotent, reversible inhibitor of signaling by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), HER2, and HER3: preclinical activity in HER2 non-amplified inflammatory breast cancer models. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 33: 47 4500 Worth Street Philadelphia, PA 19124 Phone: 215.948-9285 Ext 104 Fax: 215.948-9284 Email: [email protected] Web: www.manufacturingonline.org

21- Toss A, Mu Z, Fernandez S, Cristofanilli M (2014). CTC enumeration and characterization: moving toward personalized medicine. Ann Transl Med 2 (11): 108. Review article 22- Arisi MF, Staker RA, Addya S, Huang Y and Fernandez SV* (2014). All trans- retinoic acid (ATRA) induces re-differentiation of early transformed breast epithelial cells. Int. J. Oncol. 44 (6): 1831-42 23- Fernandez SV*, Bingham C, Fittipaldi P, Austin L, Palazzo J, Palmer G, Alpaugh K and Cristofanilli M* (2014). TP53 mutation detected in circulating tumor cells present in the blood of metastatic triple negative breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Research 16: 445 24- Roberto Wurth, Kevin Tarn, Danielle Jernigan, Sandra V. Fernandez, Massimo Cristofanilli, Alessandro Fatatis and Olimpia Meucci (2015). A preclinical model of inflammatory breast cancer to study the involvement of CXCR4 and Ackr3 in the metastatic process. Translational Oncology 8(5): 358-67 25- Jeffrey S. Ross, Siraj M. Ali, Kai Wang, Depinder Khaira, Norma A. Palma, Juliann Chmielecki, Gary A. Palmer, Deborah Morosini, Julia A. Elvin, Sandra V. Fernandez, Vincent A. Miller, Philip J. Stephens, Massimo Cristofanilli (2015). Comprehensive genomic profiling of inflammatory breast cancer cases reveals a high frequency of clinically relevant genomic alteration. Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 154(1): 155-62 26- Israa Salem, Manal Alsalahi, Inna Chervoneva, Lucy D. Aburto, Sankar Addya, Gregory R. Ott, Bruce A. Ruggeri, Massimo Cristofanilli, Sandra V. Fernandez* (2015). The effects of CEP-37440, an inhibitor of the focal adhesion kinase 1, on inflammatory breast cancer cells. Breast Cancer Research (In revision). * Corresponding author