InnovATEBIO Leadership Team

InnovATEBIO Principal Investigator

Biotechnology Department Chair, Austin Community College

Dr. Linnea A. Fletcher is a distinguished leader in biotechnology and education. She holds degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, with postdoctoral research in Immunology and Biochemistry. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Fletcher has served as Principal Investigator (PI) on several significant grants, including the InnovATEBIO National Biotechnology Center Grant, which was recently renewed for five more years in 2024. She has also led projects focused on student retention and industry engagement. At Austin Community College (ACC), she has held various leadership roles, including Department Chair of Biotechnology, Assistant Dean of Math, Science, and Business, and Division Chair of Math, Science, and Technology.

In 1999, Dr. Fletcher started the Biotechnology Program at ACC and joined the first NSF Funded National Biotechnology Education Center, Bio-Link. She received her first NSF funded ATE grant to start Biotechnology high school programs in Texas. From 2008 to 2010, she worked as an NSF Program Officer and was involved in setting up the first Vision and Change Meeting. In 2015, she received an Emerging Technology Fund Grant to build a Bioscience Incubator at ACC, which is now full of start-up companies and students interning or working for these companies.

Dr. Fletcher's extensive work and leadership in NSF-funded projects and her academic journey make her a highly respected figure in her field.

Contact information:  linneaf@austincc.edu

InnovATEBIO Grant Coordinator, Alumni Hub

Cassandra Mitchell-Nothaus is a dedicated biotechnology professional with a strong educational background in biotechnology and biology. She currently serves as the InnovATEBIO Grant Coordinator at Austin Community College, where she oversees grant funding and budgeting, conducts data collection, and develops visual presentations to support grant initiatives.

Previously, Cassandra worked as a Laboratory Assistant in the Biotechnology Department, where she managed cell culture facilities, maintained laboratory supplies, facilitated experiment preparation, and designed instructional experiments for Cell Culture and Biomanufacturing courses. In addition to her laboratory expertise, she plays a key role in supporting the ACC Biotechnology Alumni Network, where she develops alumni engagement workshops, collaborates with industry partners to provide career-readiness opportunities for students, and tracks alumni data.

With extensive experience in grant coordination, laboratory operations, and alumni engagement, Cassandra is a valuable asset to the biotechnology community at Austin Community College, contributing to the advancement of education, research, and workforce development in the field.

InnovATEBIO Grant Manager

Dion Tapia Krupa is an experienced educator and the InnovATEBIO Grant Manager, responsible for managing the InnovATEBIO grant, the National Center for Biotechnology Education. She supervises day-to-day activities, organizes Advanced Technology Education (ATE) webinars and workshops, gathers information, organizes meetings, and oversees, collects information for, and submits NSF reports. A results-oriented leader, Dion maximizes the application of her education and extensive grant writing and management experience. She is a dedicated leader and committed advocate, passionate about fostering success for students, staff, and colleagues alike. With over 25 years of experience in teaching, training, leadership, administration, and education, Dion is a seasoned grant author with expertise in federal and state grant writing, supervision, compliance reporting, and program administration. She has been a strong advocate for student support services, enhancing opportunities and support for community college students. She has delivered multi-discipline instruction to approximately 1,200 Adult Education & Literacy (AEL) students and was chosen to coach her fellow Texas peers as a certified AEL Statewide Trainer. Prior to entering the post-secondary education arena, Dion amassed over 12,600 teaching hours across four different grade levels as a certified elementary school teacher in both Texas and New Mexico. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education, a Master of Arts in Education, and has completed 21 hours in the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership doctoral program at Kansas State University. In her personal life, she enjoys reading, spending quality time with loved ones, and pursuing challenging athletic ventures.

InnovATEBIO Leadership Team, Biomanufacturing Lead               
Professor of Biotechnology, Montgomery County Community College

Dr. Maggie Bryans received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and went on to do postdoctoral work at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, Switzerland, and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University. Dr. Bryans spent several years conducting National Institute of Health sponsored cancer research in the areas of oncogene regulation and DNA repair before joining MCCC in 2009. Dr. Bryans serves as the Biotechnology Program Coordinator at MCCC, her academic experience includes biotechnology and biomanufacturing program and curriculum development, course design and assessment, and establishment of an industry driven student research program. Dr. Bryans served as the Principal Investigator of the Northeast Biomanufacturing Center and Collaborative (NBC²), leading many initiatives in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical industry sector. This resulted in a suite of curriculum products for biomanufacturing technician training including skill standards, an industry-authored textbook, laboratory manuals, and a comprehensive biomanufacturing exam. Dr. Bryans has designed and hosted train-the-trainer events for teachers and faculty in many areas of biomanufacturing including the cell and gene therapy sector and developed open-source curriculum modules for adoption in courses and programs.

Curriculum Lead, BABEC

Elizabeth leads BABEC’s curriculum projects and coordinates with teachers to help them bring hands-on labs to their classrooms. She joined BABEC in July 2019 and loves creating engaging, phenomenon-driven lessons that empower students through biotechnology. 

Before joining BABEC, Elizabeth taught biology and biotechnology at San Mateo High School. Before teaching, she worked as a professional research assistant in a lab studying a gene associated with Parkinson’s disease. When she is not working at BABEC, Elizabeth enjoys her time by dancing, traveling, reading and hiking.
 

Elizabeth received her BA in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from University of Colorado at Boulder and her Master’s degree in Education from Stanford University.

BABEC, Supply Chain Hub

As an undergraduate, I explored various courses at community colleges and discovered my passion for biology at Laney College. After earning my A.S. in Biology and a certificate in Biomanufacturing, I pursued further education, obtaining a B.S. in Biotechnology from UC Davis and an M.S. from CSU East Bay. Upon completing my studies, I joined Laney College as an instructor. I have been a part of the InnovATEBIO community/Supply Chain Hub since 2021.

InnovATEBIO High School Pathways Hub Lead, BABEC Pathways Lead

Michael works as a Pathway Lead for the non-profit BABEC where he helps teachers in the Bay Area implement biotechnology lessons in their classrooms. Before joining BABEC, Michael was Principal of Gateway High School where he focused on increasing access to STEM related classes and experiences. He also taught biology and biotechnology courses during his 20-year tenure in San Francisco public high schools. He continues to teach Dual Enrollment Biotechnology courses for Skyline College. Before beginning his teaching career, Michael worked for Gilead Sciences in the Virology department focusing on HIV resistance to reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

Michael graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Genetics.

Ying-Tsu Loh, PhD, Executive Director, BABEC

Ying-Tsu Loh serves as the Executive Director of BABEC (Bay Area Bioscience Education Community), a nonprofit dedicated to advancing hands-on bioscience education for grades 9-14. Under her leadership since 2016, BABEC engages over 150 teachers annually, providing workshops, in-class support, and access to affordable lab resources. Ying-Tsu oversees strategic and business development, while spearheading collaborations with educational and nonprofit partners.

She co-leads BioSCOPE, the InnovATEBIO Supply Chain Hub, which integrates student-driven manufacturing and analysis projects into education. BABEC currently manages three NSF-funded initiatives focused on supply chain and high school pathways.

Previously, Ying-Tsu was adjunct faculty in the Biotechnology Program at City College of San Francisco (2004–2016), where she coordinated internships and co-developed a mentor training project with UCSF. She also managed a DOL-funded environmental monitoring program. Ying-Tsu earned her PhD in agronomy/plant molecular biology from Purdue University and completed postdoctoral research at the DOE-Plant Research Labs, Michigan State University.

Dr. Anna Feitzinger is the Assistant Director for Science of the DNA Learning Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a science center devoted entirely to genetics education. She applies her expertise in quantitative biology and biochemistry to bridging the gap in bioinformatics education at the pre-college and college level. She is spearheading the use of Oxford Nanopore sequencing in education, with the dream that sequencing technology will be available to students in classrooms nationwide. She received her B.A. in Chemistry from the City University of New York, Hunter College and a Ph.D in Biology at the University of California, Davis.

InnovATEBIO Leadership team

Founder and executive director of the DNA Learning Center (DNALC)

Dave Micklos is the founder and executive director of the DNA Learning Center (DNALC), the world’s first science center devoted to public genetics education. The DNALC is an operating unit of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), ranked #1 among academic institutions worldwide for the proportion of research articles published in high impact journals of the Nature Index. The DNALC was the model for hands-on lab programs at 18 museums and higher education institutions around the world. Dave’s three textbooks, DNA Science, Laboratory DNA Science, and Genome Science helped popularize DNA education in high school and college classrooms. Each year, over 500,000 students use commercial lab kits developed by the DNALC, analyze DNA sequences using DNALC bioinformatics tools, or do experiments at the DNALC or an allied center. In addition to InnovATEBIO, Dave is co-PI of CyVerse, a national cyberinfrastructure for biology research. Through these and other grant-funded programs, Dave advocates for broad participation in student research using DNA sequence analysis and high-performance computing. He received the 1990 Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education, the 2011 Science Prize for Online Resources in Education, and the 2012 Genetics Society of America Award for Excellence in Education. Dave is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is the only CSHL staff member to receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree from its Watson School of Biological Sciences.

InnovATEBIO Co-PI

Professor of Biology, Finger Lakes Community College

Professor Hewlett is a Pre-med graduate of Bucknell University (B.S. in Biology) and the University of Connecticut (M.S. in Physiology/Marine Science). After graduating from the University of Connecticut, he entered a doctoral training program within the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Rochester, where he worked on adenoviral vectors for gene therapy.  Professor Hewlett currently serves as Coordinator of Natural Sciences and Director of Biotechnology/ Biomanufacturing at Finger Lakes Community College.  In addition to teaching, he serves as the Executive Director of the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI).  CCURI is a network of 120 community and technical colleges working to expand opportunities for their students to engage in undergraduate research. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Advanced Technological Education (JATE) journal and the Editorial Board of The American Society of Cell Biology’s CBE Life Sciences Education journal.  

Professor Hewlett served as the Chair of the Advisory Board for “Taking Delaware's Biotechnology Education to the Next Level,” a state-wide program designed to address the workforce demand in the region's growing biotechnology industry by expanding and enhancing educational capacity at Delaware Technical and Community College system. Professor Hewlett is President and CEO of STEMsolutions LLC. STEMsolutions is a New York based consulting firm specializing in higher education STEM reform and customized industry training programs.

Contact Information:  james.hewlett@flcc.edu

Jessica Halliley is a graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (M.S . Immunology, 2012), and has a B.S in Biotechnology from RIT. She has 10 years of research experience at the University of Rochester in B cell responses to novel flu vaccines. Since 2016, she has worked as a technical specialist at Finger Lakes Community College, a project coordinator of the Northeast Biomanufacturing Center & Collaborative (NBC₂), and project coordinator for the InnovATEBIO Undergraduate Research Hub.  Halliley works closely with community college students and faculty to enhance undergraduate research experiences through hands-on research projects with industry-relevant applications.

InnovATEBIO CoPI, DEIA Initiative Lead, CA State Team Co-Lead, and Supply Chain Hub Co-Lead

As Executive Director of the Bioscience Workforce Development Hub at MiraCosta College, Dr. Terri Quenzer leads regional and state initiatives that facilitate alignment of over 40 community college bioscience programs with industry needs throughout California. She leads the InnovATEBIO DEIA Initiative, where she established a national community of educators, industry partners, and resource providers around providing accessible learning to students with disabilities and other hardships to open pathways that lead to industry internships and employment. Dr. Quenzer also co-Leads the CA State Team to address Bioscience training and workforce development gaps in the state, and the Supply Chain Hub, that with the support of an NSF ATE grant, provides training and support to help community college educators provide biomanufacturing projects whereby their students manufacture lab kits for high school students.  Dr. Quenzer is an Analytical Chemist by training with over seven years in the pharmaceutical industry, and served as an industry representative on the Biocom Education Committee, as a member of the American Chemical Society’s Chemical Technology Program Approval Committee, and on several college advisory boards. Terri holds a BACE Credential (Biotechnician Assistant Credentialing Exam) and strives toward a transition to entry-level hiring practices that consider qualified candidates with validated knowledge and skills, with or without a Bachelor’s degree.

Contact information:  tquenzer@miracosta.edu 

InnovATEBIO CoPI, lead Biotech-Careers and Entrepreneurship Hub

President and Founder, Digital World Biology

Dr. Sandra Porter is an artist, scientist, entrepreneur, bioinformatics geek, and writer.  She received her PhD in microbiology from the University of Washington, worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and spent ten years leading a biotechnology education program at Seattle Central Community College.  She left Seattle Central to work at Geospiza, Inc., a bioinformatics software company later purchased by PerkinElmer.  In 2009, Porter started Digital World Biology (DWBio.com), a company that develops molecular modeling apps, games, and other educational tools for exploring biotech and molecular biology.  Dr. Porter has been teaching students how to use bioinformatics tools for studying biology for several years and writes about using bioinformatics in her blog: Discovering Biology in a Digital World. 

Currently, Porter is the PI of an ATE project focused on undergraduate research in Antibody Engineering.

Contact information:  sandra at digitalworldbiology.com

InnovATEBIO Chief Software Architect and Data Scientist

Chief Technology Officer, Digital World Biology

Todd M. Smith PhD is a successful entrepreneur. He received his BS degrees in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota; after which he worked in the Seattle Biotechnology industry for nearly five years. Dr. Smith then continued his education to earn his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington. After receiving his PhD, he developed bioinformatics software in Leroy Hood’s laboratory as his team sequenced the BRCA1 gene in collaboration with Mary Claire-King. In 1997 he co-founded the bioinformatics software company Geospiza and led the commercial development of laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and high throughput data analysis systems for all forms of DNA sequencing and microarray technologies. The company’s free Sanger electropherogram trace viewer, FinchTV, became a standard tool that is still widely used.

PerkinElmer acquired Geospiza in 2011, and in 2013 Dr. Smith joined Digital World Biology to lead business development and provide business and bioinformatics consulting services. Through Digital World Biology, Dr. Smith participates in Bio-Link where he advises on industry trends and develops the websites (Bio-Link.org, Biotech-Careers.org, and others) that link industry with educators, students, and job seekers. Most recently, Dr. Smith has been working to help design a course on immuno-bioinformatics as part of an ATE funded project at Shoreline Community College.

Dr. Smith also serves as an entrepreneur mentor for the University of Washington’s CoMotion business incubator. In that role, he participates in startup workshops and works with emerging biotechnology businesses to perform market assessments for technologies in genomics and bioinformatics. Dr. Smith currently serves on advisory boards at Phase Genomics (business advisor) and Stratos Genomics (scientific advisor).

InnovATEBIO National Center Evaluator
Principal Consultant, Sound Research Center

With 25 years’ experience in social science research, program evaluation, survey design, and data analysis, Candiya Mann specializes in helping clients tell their stories with data. She has served as the independent evaluator for over 50 grants, representing over $109 million, across a number of federal agencies (NSF, NIH, DOL, DoED, NOAA, and USDA). Clients range from federal grant recipients to state agencies, community colleges, nonprofit organizations, and private sector firms.

Within the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant program, she has evaluated dozens of ATE grants, including national centers, resource centers, and projects. She is the longtime evaluator for InnovATEBIO and its predecessor, Bio-Link, as well as a number of related ATE grants in the biotech space. She served on the advisory committee for EvaluATE, the ATE evaluation resource hub, and has presented at several EvaluATE workshops. She has a Masters of Public Administration in International Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Contact information: support@soundresearchcenter.com