Ashton Powell, Ph.D.

 

EDUCATION

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

June 2002 to December 2007                                          Department: Curriculum in Neurobiology (PhD)

Thesis:   The Molecular Mechanisms Establishing the Topography of Thalamocortical
Axons Inside the Ventral Telencephalon


Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO                     

June 1996 to May 2000                                                      Major: Neuroscience (B.A.)

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics, Durham, NC 

August 2009 to Current –Instructor of Biology

Courses Taught: Anatomy & Physiology I, II (BI352, BI416); AP Biology (BI434, BI436, BI438); Developmental Biology (BI364)

Miniterms Taught: Neuroscience (2010); Neuroscience - Electrophysiology (2011)

Seminars:  Science Policy (2010, 2011).

Clubs and Competitions: Teens Against Cancer (2011); Ethics Bowl (2011)

 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

Spring 2005 – Medical School Teaching Assistant/Laboratory Instructor – MS1: Neurobiology

Taught the laboratory component of a first year medical school course focusing on advanced neuroanatomy and the diagnosis of neurological damage and disorder.

 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Undergraduate Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

Summer 2004 – Undergraduate Teaching Assistant – Biology 121: Introduction to Neurobiology

Worked as a teaching assistant for an upper level undergraduate course that provided a broad introduction to the field of neurobiology.  Independently designed and taught a section on developmental neurobiology and taught the laboratory section of the class.

 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

Fall 2003 – Science Education Outreach Program

Participated in introducing several topics in basic science (cardiology, immunology, and neurology) to elementary schools in Durham, NC.  The purpose of this program is to inspire elementary level students to follow an interest in science beyond the classroom.

Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO

Fall 1998 & 1999 - Elementary School Outreach Program for Neuroscience Education

Taught as an instructor in the Outreach Program designed to introduce local elementary school children to basic neuroscience by providing them with hands-on experience with brain tissue at the gross and microscopic level.

WORK & RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Carolina Center for Genomics and Society (CGS) at UNC – Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, NC.

August 2009 to Current – Faculty Associate

November 2007 to August 2009 – ELSI Trainee

  • Establishing a Summer Fellowship Program between NCSSM and the UNC-CGS focused on ELSI issues (Ethical, Legal, Social Implications of Genetic and Genomic Research).

  • Researched and analyzed the current legal framework of biobanking in the US.  Construct a cohesive policy regarding the ownership of biological samples that ensures that the rights and privacy of donors are protected while maintaining significant research advances. 

  • Coordinator for the 2008 CGS Policy Roundtable.  This roundtable establishes a dialogue between experts and stakeholders in the scientific and ethical issues surrounding newborn screening and those in position to determine policy and law.  This dialogue prepares legislators to anticipate and participate in writing laws and regulations surrounding newborn screening. 

 

National Academies – Committee on Science, Technology, and Law.  Washington, DC

January 2009 to April 2009.  Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow 

  • This fellowship is designed to train scientists and lawyers about the analytical processes involved in creating federal policy regarding the integration of science, technology, and law. 

  • My projects include the following:

- Identifying how the passage of Bayh-Dole affects technology transfer in academia.

- Researching the ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding direct-to-consumer genetic tests.

- Establishing the ethical and legal framework surrounding the emerging field of synthetic biology.

- Editing a comprehensive report on the state of forensics and crime laboratories in the United States.

- Helping edit the Third Edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence.

- Analyzing the strengths and biases associated with the teaching of animal rights law in law schools.

 

Education Training Systems International, Chapel Hill, NC

December 2007 to December 2008.  Medical Writer/Editor 

  • Create medical and scientific learning systems to teach complex scientific concepts to pharmaceutical representatives.

  • Design teaching methodologies for training lay groups about scientific and medical data.

  • The primary goal of our training materials is to enable a pharmaceutical representative to engage a physician in an accurate and well-informed discussion about a given product, the appropriate physiology associated with that product, and how that product compares to its competitors.

  • Our projects often had tight deadlines, requiring a significant amount of coordination between layout specialists, multimedia artists, medical illustrators, and production staff.

  • In addition to writing and designing the training modules, my job as Editor was to lead my projects through each department and ensure the client received their materials on time.

 

Duke University Center for Genome Ethics, Law & Policy (GELP), Durham, NC.

May 2007 to August 2007.  Summer Fellow 

  • Studied how the practice of granting exclusive licenses by university technology transfer offices impacts the distribution and use of new technologies.

  • Researched how patents held by the University of Wisconsin for human embryonic stem cells affect the progression of research and innovation.

  • Researched how advances in genomic science affect the health, individual rights, and distributive justice of the public.

  • Provided a case study for the Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS) on the affects of gene patents on patient access to genetic testing.  The SACGHS reports directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services at the National Institute of Health.

 

Yale Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, New Haven, CT.

June 2000 to May 2002.  Research Assistant for Clinical Trials 

  • Managed clinical trials from multiple aspects including recruiting, source document design, data collection, and laboratory measures.

  • Coordinated 10 clinical trials containing over 190 patients studying multiple sclerosis therapy and disease progression.

  • Working in a team-oriented atmosphere of doctors, clinic staff and patients, I led a redesigning of the clinic operation methodology enabling a successful increase in clinical trial efficacy through efficiency.

  • Established a computerized clinic management system to organize and track study data and designed a source document process that was lauded by FDA moderators.

  • In addition to organizing the clinic, I designed a database and related kiosk-based program to compare clinical and laboratory data with self-report neurological exams of multiple sclerosis patients.

  • Committee member for the establishment of electronic medical records at Yale New Haven Hospital and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.

 PUBLICATIONS

 AW Powell, T Sassa, Y Wu, M Tessier-Levigne, F Polleux; Topography of Thalamic Projections Requires Attractive and Repulsive Functions of Netrin-1 in the Ventral Telencephalon. PLoS Biology, 2008 May 13;6(5):e116.

AW Powell, S Chandrasekharan, R Cook-Deegan.  Spinocerebellar Ataxia: Patient and Health Professional Perspectives on Whether and How Patents Affect Access to Clinical Genetic Testing.  Case study for the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society in 2007.  Republished: Genetics in Medicine; 2010 April 12(4). 

AG Wright, GP Demyanenko, AW Powell, M Schachner, L Enriquez-Barreto, TS Tran, F Polleux, and PF Maness; Close Homolog of L1 (CHL1) and Neuropilin1 Mediate Guidance of Thalamocortical Axons at the Ventral Telencephalon. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2007;27(50):13667-13679.

AP Barnes, BN Lilley, YA Pan, L. Plummer, AW Powell, AN Raines, JS Sanes, F Polleux; LKB1 and SAD Kinases Define a Pathway Required for the Polarization of Cortical Neurons. Cell.  2007;129(3):549-63. 

POSTERS 

AW Powell, F. Polleux; Netrin-1 specifies the topography of thalamocortical projections in the ventral telencaphalon. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Atlanta, GA. October 2006. 

AW Powell, M. Tessier-Lavigne, F. Polleux; Exploration of the role of corticofugal axons in patterning the topography of thalamocortical projections during embryonic development using novel in vitro and in vivo approaches.  Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience Meeting, San Diego, CA. October 2004. 

R. Hand, C. Schuurmans, AP Barnes, D. Bortone, E. Boutt, AW Powell, G. Gradwhol, F. Guillemot, F. Polleux; Neurogenin2 specifies the radial migration properties and the pyramidal dendritic morphology of cortical neurons through transcription-dependent and transcription-independent mechanisms. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience Meeting, San Diego, CA. October 2004.

AM Gates, GP Demyanenko, AW Powell, M. Schachner, F. Polleux, PF Maness; CHL1 is a determinant of topograpic mapping in the thalamocortical projection. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience Meeting, San Diego, CA. October 2004. 

S. Markovic-Plese, AW Powell, A. Cortez, TL Vollmer; Therapeutic Potential of Statins in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.  Poster presented at ACTRIMS/ECTRIMS Meeting, Denver, CO.  September 2002.

PRESENTATIONS

 Cast member for On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research.  National Academies Press, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIBjGV3OB0o

Panelist for the UNC – TIBBS Science Writers Career Panel.  August 2008.

Panelist for the ELSI Training Workshop. "ELSI": Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Genomics, Cleveland, OH.  May 2008.

AW Powell.  The Role of Netrin-1 in Establishing the Topography of Thalamocortical Axons Inside the Ventral Telencephalon. UNC Neuroscience Center Tuesday Mini-Seminar Series.  October 2005.

AW Powell.  Efficacy Through Efficiency - How to effectively manage the laboratory aspects of clinical trials specific to multiple sclerosis.  Presentation to Scirex, New Haven, CT.  February 2001.

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Co-chair of MEPPs 

2004 to 2007 – MEPPs is a student run organization for the UNC-CH Neurobiology Curriculum.  Since taking over as co-chair in 2004, MEPPs has evolved from simply being a presentation venue into an organization that opens the line of communication between the student body and faculty and provides connections between graduate students in order to facilitate collaborations among researchers from a wide array of interdisciplinary studies.  As co-chair for MEPPs I set the agenda for the student body, lead monthly meetings, and manage our small but sufficient budget.

CLINICAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Phase I Trial of Autologous Schwann Cell Transplantation in MS as a Myelin Repair Strategy (Research Assistant)

A Two-Arm, Cross-Over Design, Two Dose, Dose Escalation, Safety and Tolerability Study of Oral Interferon Beta-1a (Avonex) in Multiple Sclerosis (Research Assistant) 

A Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Phase II Trial of 4-AP in MS (Research Assistant)

An Open-Label, Single-Arm Study of Simvastatin as a Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis (Research Assistant)

An Open label Trial of Cop-1 in Remitting-Relapsing MS (Research Assistant)

A Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Multi-Center Trial of Copolymer-1 in Multiple Sclerosis (Research Assistant)

A Multi-National, Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Tolerability, and Safety of Glatiramer Acetate for Injection in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Patients (Research Assistant)

A Randomized, Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Safety, Tolerability And Dose Evaluation Study of Intravenous Antegren (Natalizumab) At Two Dose Levels Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Subjects With Multiple Sclerosis (Research Assistant)

An Open-Label, Randomized, Multi-Center, Comparative, Parallel Group Study of Rebif 44 mcg Administered Three Times Per Week by Subcutaneous Injection, Compared with Avonex 30 mcg Administered Once Per Week by Intramuscular Injection in the Treatment of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (Research Assistant)

A Multi-National, Multi-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study To Evaluate The Efficacy, Tolerability, And Safety Of Two Doses (5 Mg And 50 Mg) Of Glatiramer Acetate Orally Administered In Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patient (Research Assistant)

MISCELLANEOUS

Judge for Engineer Girl!:  Imagine That!  Engineering Innovation Essay Contest (2009)

Member of the Colorado College division III varsity lacrosse team (1996-1999)

International Thespian Society, Troup 2063 (1994-Current)

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(Last updated: September 30, 2011)