U.S. Citizen Schedule a Hiring Authority R

U.S. Citizen Schedule a Hiring Authority R

Ayça Akal–Strader, Ph.D.

Linguist Resume

Ayça Akal–Strader, Ph.D.

Phone: (301) 564 – 3660 E–Mail:

U.S. Citizen Schedule A – Hiring Authority R

Professional Profile

Bilingual (Turkish/English) professional and native Turkish speaker with fluency in both English and Turkish as well as extensive familiarity with Turkish cultural heritage, interested in applying strong scientific research training and technical communication background to Linguist, Translator, Analyst (Language, Research, Media), Technical/Scientific Writer/Editor, or Scientist positions in federal government agencies and the Intelligence Community to contribute to their research and communication needs in the D.C./MD/VA area.

  • Effective oral and written communication skills demonstrated through teaching, mentoring, oral presentations, and publication record.
  • Strong teamwork and leadership skills proven by multiple manager and chair/co–chair positions.
  • Excellent organizational and time management skills as demonstrated by good prioritization and timely delivery of multiple scientific manuscript translation projects under tight deadlines with exceptional quality and customer satisfaction.
  • Meticulous attention to detail as shown by detailed planning and execution of research projects as well as editing of technical documents with excellent spelling, grammar, format, consistency, and flow.

Professional Experience

Managing Translator, Turkish 04/2011 – 03/2012

Bethesda, MD

Scientific Manuscript Services, The Translation Team, American Journal Experts, LLC – Team Leader: Kyongsook Kim, Ph.D.

  • Started and developed a new manuscript language service for translation of scientific, medical, engineering, and social science manuscripts from Turkish to English and translated the company website from English to Turkish
  • Increased staff size by 300% and customer base by 500% over four months with superb customer satisfaction (25–45% repeat customer rate;no complaints), and two successful partnerships with companies from overseas

Research Fellow/LaboratoryManager 10/2007 – 04/2011

Washington, D.C.

Department of Biology, Georgetown University – Principal Investigator: Anne G. Rosenwald, Ph.D.

  • Collaborated on multiple projects pertaining to understanding the interactions between two proteins involved in membrane trafficking in yeast and generated several reagents for functional analysis
  • Mentored students to assist in and troubleshoot experiments, managed the laboratory (ordered supplies, maintained equipment, updated databases), and prepared reports (protocols, instructions, summaries, presentations)

Research Fellow/Cancer Research Training Awardee 10/2005 – 09/2007

Bethesda, MD

Center for Cancer Research, Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) – Principal Investigator: Munira A. Basrai, Ph.D.

  • Collaborated on multiple projects to understand the function of an unknown gene in cell cycle progression in yeast and discovered a previously overlooked function of this gene
  • Prepared reports, summaries/updates, presentations, and maintained databases

Research Fellow 11/2004 – 09/2005

Knoxville, TN

Amyloid and Neurodegenerative Disease Research Laboratory, University of Tennessee Medical Center – Principal Investigator: Ronald B. Wetzel, Ph.D.

  • Collaborated on multiple projects to develop a functional assay to understand suppression of and aggregate–prone protein by a molecular chaperone protein in the neurodegenerative Huntington disease model and generated several reagents for functional studies
  • Ordered reagents, maintained equipment, updated databases, and prepared reports (summaries, presentations, lectures)

Teaching and Mentoring

Bio–TracII Summer/Winter Session Instructor for the Course “Biotechnology: Recombinant DNA Methodology” 06/2008 – Current

Bethesda, MD

  • Regular team lecturer for once–yearly or twice–yearly course
  • Designed lectures explaining enzymes in recombinant DNA technologies, as well as blotting applications to study DNA, RNA, and protein samples

Laboratory Coordinator for the Course “Microbiology for Medicine: Infectious Diseases II – Bacteriology & Mycology” 09/2010 – 12/2010

Washington, D.C.

  • Managed laboratory for 2nd year Georgetown University medical students
  • Handled Level2/3 microorganisms; prepared and tested reagents/media

Ad–Hoc Instructor for the Course “General Chemistry” 08/2008 – 12/2008

Washington, D.C.

  • Designed slides/handouts to give lectures on important highlights of the weekly course material and solved sample problems
  • Provided academic advising for 1st year DC Area Community Scholars at Georgetown University

On–The–Job Supervisor/Mentor/Trainer for Junior/Senior Researchers 07/1995 – 04/2011

Washington, D.C./Bethesda, MD/Knoxville, TN

  • Participated in daily interactions with multiple undergraduate, post-baccalaureate CRTA, and graduate researchers at University of Tennessee, NCI–NIH, and Georgetown University
  • Provided on the job instruction in biochemical, molecular biological, and genetic methods, experimental design, and laboratory notebook maintenance
  • Prepared protocols/tutorials for equipment use, data analysis, and software usage

Teaching Assistant for Undergraduate and Graduate Students 01/1994 – 05/2000

Knoxville, TN/Ankara, Turkey

  • Designed slides, prepared discussion sessions, and evaluated student performance for the courses “Nutritional Biochemistry/Physiological Chemistry” and “Biophysical Chemistry”
  • Directed laboratory sessions, prepared reagents/media, and evaluated student performance for the courses “General Chemistry Laboratory” and “Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory”

Other Experience

Chair of Turkish Student Organization 08/2004 – 09/2005

Knoxville, TN

  • Organized social and cultural gatherings for the Turkish community in the Knoxville/Nashville, TN area to strengthen community ties and increase awareness of the
  • Led monthly organizational meetings to discuss relevant social, political, and cultural topics, recruit new members, and observe special holidays culture

Co–Chair of and Secretary/Reporter for Turkish Student Organization 08/2003 – 06/2004

Knoxville, TN

  • Attended monthly organizational meetings and performed administrative duties, such as preparing meeting minutes, reporting results of votes on issues, and scheduling events calendar
  • Assisted in welcoming the new Turkish students to the community

Scholarships/Fellowships

  • Awarded full scholarship for the English for Heritage Language Speakers Program at Georgetown University 01/2013 – 06/2013
  • Fulbright/International Institute of Education (IIE) Fellowship 08/1994 – 12/1997

Awards/Other Academic Honors

  • Cancer Research Training Award (CRTA); NCI – NIH 10/2005 – 09/2007
  • Outstanding Scholarly Achievement (Science Alliance Award); Division of Biology, University of Tennessee 05/2002
  • Subsistence & Travel Award for a National Scientific Meeting; Genetic Society of America, Meeting Finance Committee, University of Tennessee 08/2002
  • Excellence in Teaching Award; Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee 05/1998

Computer Skills

  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, GraphPad Prism, Adobe Photoshop
  • Windows, Macintosh
  • PubMed, Adobe Acrobat, Reference Manager

Professional Societies

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 08/1998 – Current

Publications

  • Strader, M. B., Hervey IV, W. J. Costantino, N., Fujigaki, S., Chen, C. Y., Akal–Strader, A., Ihunnah, C. A., Makusky, A. J., Court, D. L., Markey, S. P., and Kowalak, J. A. (2013) A Coordinated Proteomic Approach for Identifying Proteins that Interact with the E. coli Ribosomal Protein S12. Journal of Proteome Research 12 (3): 1289 – 1299.
  • Kim, K.–M., Lee, Y.–H., Akal–Strader, A., Uddin, M. S., Hauser, M., Naider, F., and Becker, J. M. (2012) Multiple Regulatory Roles of the Carboxy Terminus of Ste2p, a Yeast GPCR. Pharmacological Research 65: 31–40.
  • Chavez, D. R., Manlandro, C. M. A., Akal–Strader, A., Munson, A. M., and Rosenwald, A. G. Modulation of Nucleotide Binding to Yeast Arl1: Mon2 Inhibits GTP Binding. Manuscript submitted to FEMS Yeast Research.
  • Akal–Strader, A., Khare, S., Xu, D., Naider, F., and Becker, J. M. (2002) Residues in the First Extracellular Loop of a G Protein–Coupled Receptor Play a Role in Signal Transduction. Journal of Biological Chemistry 277: 30581–30590.
  • Sommers, C. M., Martin, N. P., Akal–Strader, A., Becker, J. M., Naider, F., and Dumont, M. E. (2000) A Limited Spectrum of Mutations Causes Constitutive Activation of the Yeast –Factor Receptor. Biochemistry 39: 6898–6909.
  • Serpersu, E. H., Cox, J. R., DiGiammarino, E. L., Mohler, M. L., Ekman, D. R., Akal–Strader, A., and Owsten, M. (2000) Conformations of Antibiotics in Active Sites of Aminoglycoside–Detoxifying Enzymes. Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics 33: 309–321.
  • Cox, J. R., Ekman, D. R., DiGiammarino, E. L., Akal–Strader, A., and Serpersu, E. H. (2000) Aminoglycoside Antibiotics Bound to Aminoglycoside–Detoxifying Enzymes and RNA Adopt Similar Conformations. Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics 33: 297–308.

Certifications

  • Enrolled in the English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Certificate Program, Georgetown University. Full–time, intensive program in English for the professional workplace. Attending on full scholarship from the National Security Education Program (NSEP) 01/2013 – Current (Until 08/2013)

Education

  • Doctorate Degree(GPA: 3.65/4.00) 08/1998 – 10/2004 (Knoxville, TN)

University of Tennessee – Principal Investigator: Jeffrey M. Becker, Ph.D.

Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology awarded 12/2004

  • Master’s Degree(GPA: 3.50/4.00) 08/1994 – 07/1998 (Knoxville, TN)

University of Tennessee – Principal Investigator: Engin H. Serpersu, Ph.D.

M.S. degree in Biochemistry awarded 12/1997

  • Bachelor’s Degree(GPA: 3.62/4.00) 09/1989 – 07/1993 (Ankara, Turkey)

Middle East Technical University

B.S. degree in Chemistry awarded 07/1993

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