Career Corner | Plant Biology Alum to Network with STEMstart Freshmen

Nanda Filkin

Editor’s Note: Ohio University alum Nanda Filkin will meet with freshman biology and chemistry students during STEMstart on Aug. 23.

By Nanda Filkin ’03M.S.
Research Associate in Research and Development at Quidel

I have always loved biology and always wanted to be a scientist. It never mattered to me what kind of biology- ecology, micro, cell or molecular biology.  I have experience in all of these.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a small liberal art college in Michigan, Kalamazoo College, which required an internship and thesis in the field of biology before graduation.  During the summer of my senior year, I conducted my first scientific study as an intern at Ohio University in Dr. Morgan Vis’ lab (also an alumna from Kalamazoo College).  I studied the genetic variation within a population of the red algal species Batrachospermum gelatinosum.  I graduated in 1999 from Kalamazoo College with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.  Following my graduation, I spent 2 years in Germany, studying biology and working in a botanical garden as an intern.  After returning to the states in 2001, I rejoined Dr. Morgan L Vis’ lab at Ohio University as a Master’s student.  My project documented the life cycle of the rare red algal species Paralemanea annulata in the Hocking Hills.  I completed a Master’s degree in Environmental and Plant Biology in 2003.  Following the completion of my degree, I was offered a job as a research technician in the Biological Sciences Department at Ohio University working with Dr. Janet Duerr.  In this lab, we studied neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin and their role in development using the nematode model system, C. elegans.  In 2009, I was given the opportunity to also work alongside Dr. Frank Horodyski in the Biomedical Sciences at Ohio University.  In his lab, we studied the neuropeptide allatotropin in the tobacco hornworm caterpillar model system, Manduca sexta.  This regulatory molecule is important for life cycle regulation and maturation of the egg to adult.  When the position ended in 2013, I was hired as a Research Associate in Research and Development at Quidel (Diagnostic Hybrids) in Athens, OH.   Quidel-Diagnostic Hybrids develops medical devices and tests for both infectious and non-infectious diseases. During my tenure at Quidel, I have helped develop several molecular diagnostic assays and am currently working on some cell-based diagnostic assays.

I have learned so much and gained so many skills over the last 23 years and hope to continue to do so in the future.  I am proud to be an OU alumna and proud to call Athens, OH my home.