KURT C. VAN GUNST 307 ½ Bonair Street

La Jolla, CA  92037

                                                                                                       Phone: 619-302-4154

Curriculum Vitae                                                                             Email: kvangunst@gmail.com

SUMMARY

Flow Cytometry Specialist

· 10 years of experience in biotechnology industry and academia.

· Expertise in experimental design, acquiring and presenting high quality flow cytometry data, and cell sorting.

· Highly proficient in data analysis using FlowJo and FACS Diva analysis software platforms.

· In depth knowledge of a wide range of multi-color flow cytometry assays and applications.

· Broad understanding of biotechnology industry from both a sales and research perspective.

· Excellent technique working with applications requiring sterile conditions.

· Experience working with biohazardous materials.

· Strong background in immunology and associated assays.

· Personable, organized, and efficient employee who takes pride in his work.

EDUCATION Bachelor of Science in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience

Minor in Psychology

University of California, San Diego -December 1999

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Research Reagent Sales Specialist                                                                 April 2007 – November 2007

BD Biosciences - Pharmingen and Immunocytometry Systems                                                (laid off due to sales force reduction)

San Diego, CA

· Managed all academic and biotech accounts for San Diego, Nevada, and New Mexico.

· Responsible for sales of all BD Biosciences research reagents, including:  flow cytometry antibodies, Cytometric Bead Array, Phosflow, ELISA and ELISPOT, Baculogold, and magnetic separation reagents.

· Handled capital equipment sales for BD FACS Array Bioanalyzer, BD Medimachine, BD Monolight Luminometers, and BD FACS Count.

· Performed technical demonstrations of BD research reagents and instrumentation.

· Established business relationships with new and existing customers to increase sales revenue.

· Introduced customers to new and existing products to assist them in their research.

· Utilized flow cytometry expertise to assist customers with experimental design and troubleshooting.

· Prepared price comparison reports to offer competitive conversion proposals.

Research Associate III - Flow Cytometry Operator November 2005 – April 2007

Cytori Therapeutics Inc.,

San Diego, CA

· Planned and executed complex multi-color flow cytometric immunophenotyping experiments.

· Analyzed large quantity of flow cytometry data using BD FACSDiva and Treestar FlowJo software platforms before presenting to principal investigators.

· Sorted rare subpopulations of cells under sterile conditions for subsequent cell culture assays.

· Utilized magnetic separation for pre-sort enrichment of adipose derived stem cells.

· Responsible for daily calibration, maintenance, and operation of a two laser BD FACSAria cell sorter.

· Trained scientists and technicians in basic immunostaining, operation of a BD FACSort flow cytometer, data acquisition, and data analysis.

· Created and maintained a detailed inventory of all flow cytometry reagents.

· Organized and archived all flow cytometry data electronically, and maintained daily quality control records.

· Kept a meticulous laboratory notebook including computer generated protocols, tables, and charts.

· Managed the relocation of our flow cytometry facility to our new building and helped design the new lab.

Flow Cytometry Operator April 2003 – October 2005

Flow Cytometry Core Facility, Department of Immunology,

The Scripps Research Institute - La Jolla, CA

· Performed daily set-up and operation of three BD high speed cell sorters:  one BD FACS Aria, and two BD Digital FACS Vantages.

· Consulted with principal investigators and post-doctoral scientists regarding optimal gating strategy for sorting of precious rare subpopulations under sterile conditions.

· Responsible for daily calibration and maintenance of seven BD FACS analyzers:  two BD LSRIIs, one BD FACSCaliber HTS, one BD FACSCaliber, one BD FACSSort, one BD FACScan, and one BD FACSArray.

· Provided technical expertise for research staff in the operation of the FACS analyzers and use of associated software.

· Developed a widely used tutorial on BD FACS Diva 4.1 software for The Scripps Research Institute.

· Organized and archived all flow cytometry data electronically, and maintained quality control records.

Research Assistant III                                                                                          January 2000 – April 2003

Laboratory of Nora Sarvetnick, Department of Immunology,

The Scripps Research Institute - La Jolla, CA

· Planned and performed large scale multi-color experiments for flow cytometric analysis.

· Studied, analyzed and organized large data sets before presenting to senior scientists and principal investigator.

· Isolated total RNA from murine pancreas and spleen, and prepared samples for DNA array analysis.

· Isolated proteins from murine pancreas and performed Western blot analysis.

· Analyzed cytokine concentrations in tissue culture supernatant via ELISA.

· Performed basic murine surgeries and dissection as well as IP, IM, and IV injections.

· Kept a detailed lab notebook of all experiments to be used as a reference for future projects.

Scientific Voluntary Intern                                                                         October 1997 – December 1999

Laboratory of Nora Sarvetnick, Department of Immunology,

The Scripps Research Institute - La Jolla, CA

· Harvested, isolated and stained lymphocytes from murine whole blood, spleen and lymph nodes for multi-parameter flow cytometric analysis.

· Prepared organs for cryostat and microtome sectioning, and subsequent immunohistological staining.

· Handled all animal husbandry duties and monitoring of blood glucose levels in a large murine colony.

PUBLICATIONS

· Kayali AG, Van Gunst K, Campbell IL, Stotland A, Kritzik M, Liu G, FlodstromTullberg M, Zhang YQ, Sarvetnick N.  The stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha/CXCR4 ligand-receptor axis is critical for progenitor survival and migration in the pancreas. J Cell Biol. 2003 Nov 24; 163(4):859-69. PMID: 14638861.

· Hill NJ, Van Gunst K, Sarvetnick N.  Th1 and Th2 pancreatic inflammation differentially affects homing of islet-reactive CD4 cells in non-obese diabetic mice. J Immunol. 2003 Feb 15; 170(4):1649-58. PMID: 12574327.

· La Cava A, Balasa B, Good A, Van Gunst K, Jung N, Sarvetnick N.  H-2D end confers dominant protection from IL-10-mediated acceleration of autoimmune diabetes in the non-obese diabetic mouse. J Immunol. 2001 Jul 15; 167(2):1066-71. PMID: 11441117.

· Shi FD, Flodstrom M, Balasa B, Kim SH, Van Gunst K, Strominger JL, Wilson SB, Sarvetnick N.  Germ line deletion of the CD1 locus exacerbates diabetes in the NOD mouse. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jun 5; 98(12):6777-82. PMID: 11390999.

· Balasa B, Boehm BO, Fortnagel A, Karges W, Van Gunst K, Jung N, Camacho SA, Webb SR, Sarvetnick N.  Vaccination with glutamic acid decarboxylase plasmid DNA protects mice from spontaneous autoimmune diabetes and B7/CD28 co-stimulation circumvents that protection. Clin Immunol. 2001 May; 99(2):241-52. PMID: 11318596.

· Balasa B, La Cava A, Van Gunst K, Mocnik L, Balakrishna D, Nguyen N, Tucker L, Sarvetnick N.  A mechanism for IL-10-mediated diabetes in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse: ICAM-1 deficiency blocks accelerated diabetes. J Immunol. 2000 Dec 15; 165(12):7330-7. PMID: 11120869.

· Balasa B, Van Gunst K, Jung N, Balakrishna D, Santamaria P, Hanafusa T, Itoh N, Sarvetnick N.  Islet-specific expression of IL-10 promotes diabetes in nonobese diabetic mice independent of Fas, perforin, TNF receptor-1, and TNF receptor-2 molecules. J Immunol. 2000 Sep 1; 165(5):2841-9. PMID: 10946317.

· Balasa B, Van Gunst K, Jung N, Katz JD, Sarvetnick N.  IL-10 deficiency does not inhibit insulitis and accelerates cyclophosphamide-induced diabetes in the nonobese diabetic mouse. Cell Immunol. 2000 Jun 15; 202(2):97-102. PMID: 10896769.

· Balasa B, Van Gunst K, Sarvetnick N.  The microbial product lipopolysaccharide confers diabetogenic potential on the T cell repertoire of BDC2.5/NOD mice: implications for the etiology of autoimmune diabetes. Clin Immunol. 2000 May; 95(2):93-8. PMID: 10779402.

REFERENCES

· Ziganti, Steve – Vice President of US Sales and Service, BD Biosciences – Pharmingen, Immunocytometry Systems, and Bioimaging. 

Phone: 408-954-2564, E-mail: Steve_Ziganti@bd.com

· Alfonso, Zeni, PhD – Senior Scientist, Cytori Therapeutics

Phone: 858-458-0900, E-mail: zalfonso@cytoritx.com

· Saluk, Alan - Director, Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Scripps Research Institute. 

Phone: 858-784-8251, E-mail: asaluk@scripps.edu.

· Sarvetnick, Nora, PhD – Professor, Department of Immunology, The Scripps Research Institute. 

Phone: 858-784-9066, E-mail: noras@scripps.edu.