Mira Šeškar, Research Analyst Supervisor

Education

Postdoctoral Research Associate	1999-2001	Rutgers University, Biotech Center, Dr. Nilgun Tumer‘s laboratory. Research area: Plant antiviral proteins (molecular biology approach to prevention of toxicity while retaining the efficacy in pokeweed antiviral protein).
Ph. D.	1993-1998	Rutgers University, Biotech Center, Dr. Ilya Raskin’s laboratory. Involved in research including pathway of Salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis and role of SA in rice (Silverman et al., 1995; Schweizer et al., 1997). Investigated role of active oxygen species and early steps in SA biosynthesis in tobacco (Mittler et al., 1996). Investigated metabolism of SA, namely, accumulation of methyl salicylate in virus-inoculated tobacco (Seskar et al., 1998). Initiated purification and characterization of SAM: salicylic acid methyltransferase.
M. Sc.	1990-1992	Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; Soil and Crop Science Department, under guidance of Dr. Tom Cothren. Investigated role of adjuvants in phytotoxicity of pesticides (namely Curacron).
B. Sc.	1984-1989	University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, College of Agronomy, under guidance of Dr. Rudolf Kastori.

Research Analyst Supervisor	2013-present	Manages a large, multi-project plant natural product research laboratory, oversees the expenditure of all funding; coordinates personnel activities; and prepares grant proposals, status reports, and fiscal budgets. Manages domestic and international activities including the NIH-funded Center for Botanicals and Metabolic Syndrome (CBMS).
Consultant	2011-present	Nutrasorb LLC. As a part of cross-functional team I facilitate and support the transfer of technology from the research platform to the products commercialization in Functional Food and Cosmetic Industry.
Project Manager	2006-2011	Phytomedics, Inc. Jamesburg, NJ, USA, (PMI). R&D Project Manager reporting to the CMO and CFO. Providing scientific and operations support to a cross-functional preclinical and clinical team to enable US and EU registration for a new rheumatoid arthritis drug. Creating and maintaining integrated cross-functional project timelines, preparing internal team documents, authoring development plans and monthly reports. Responsible for providing timely, accurate and comprehensive project and program information to senior management.
Teaching Instructor	2001-2006	Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ, USA. Lectured: Biology (BY101), Botany (BY214), Biology of Vascular Plants (BY213), Biochemistry (BY310), Senior Seminar (BY495), Biotechnology and Society (Perspectives-Interdisciplinary course).