SpeakersBackground
Lillie Manley
Scientist, R&D
Molecular Biology
Thermo Fisher Scientific		Lillie graduated with a B.S. Degree in Chemistry from St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. She joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2015 as a Manufacturing Scientist with a focus on molecular biology reagents for PCR, sequencing, and nucleic acid extraction. She transitioned into R&D in herd and crop health focusing on sample preparation, assay development for pathogen detection, and sequencing. Currently, she is an Application Scientist in R&D developing workflow solutions from sample preparation to downstream analysis.  
Karessa Garza
Scientist, R&D
Sample Preparation
Thermo Fisher Scientific ​ 		Karessa is an R&D scientist with extensive expertise in the research, development, manufacturing, and quality testing of RUO & regulated products. With a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin, she has accumulated significant experience in both Manufacturing and R&D roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific since 2008. Since joining the Austin Sample Prep R&D team in 2018, she has helped to develop and bring multiple sample preparation products to market. Karessa has substantial experience in automated DNA/RNA purification from various sample types for use in a multitude of downstream applications, such as qPCR, genotyping, sequencing, and NGS.
Jay Bhandari
Scientist, R&D
Molecular Biology
Thermo Fisher Scientific		Jay started his research career studying post-translational modification and its role in abiotic stress signaling mechanisms. He followed his research interest in cancer biology and investigated the chromosome repair mechanisms that cells use to escape the normal limits of growth when faced with unrepairable DNA damage and was involved in studying biochemical pathways for measuring levels of R-loops and nucleic acid unwinding mechanisms. At Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jay is applying several sample preparation reagents and instruments for a variety of applications to enable our customers and provide better life science solutions.