Faculty

Having more than 20 years of experience in global Commercial and Clinical Quality and Operations, Gary has worked at different companies including Bayer, Genentech Boehringer Ingelheim and now Theravance Biopharma in various capacities. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Degree in Integrative Biology and Environmental Science in 1996 and received a Master of Business Administration from St. Mary’s College in 2011.

Gary began his career in 1996 in Manufacturing Process Development for Kogenate at Bayer. Later in 1997, Gary moved to Genentech to work in almost every aspect of Product Production and Quality, and was then hired and promoted to Site Quality Head at Boehringer Ingelheim Gary, where he lead a divisional initiative to define and improve Quality Culture, prepared the site for BLA and PAI submission, hosted a perfect FDA inspection and hosted training of 100 FDA inspectors.

Now at Theravance Biopharma, Gary drives Quality strategy, governance, and Quality oversight of operations for commercial and clinical programs through an internal and external vendor network. He has established a Quality Manual, Quality Governance, has led or co-led several Regulatory inspections with no observations that impacted the business.

Eddie Crabbe, who holds a PhD in Food Science and Technology (Microbial Biotechnology option) from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, and holds a BS (honors) and an MPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, comes with more than 12 years of experience in aerobic and anaerobic fermentation process development for recombinant protein and bioenergy production, technology transfer, and manufacturing support.

He also undertook post-doctoral studies in methane steam reforming to hydrogen TonenGeneral Corporation (an ExxonMobil affiliate in Saitama, Japan) and lysine production by a thermo-tolerant bacillus species from methanol in Professor Mike Flickinger’s Lab in the Biotechnology Institute at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul.

Eddie joined KGI in 2014 and currently works at Allergan in Irvine, California as a Senior Scientist in Biologics Development Process Sciences. In this role, he leads the design, development, scale up, characterization, and transfer of fermentation and primary recovery processes for the production of biologics and enzymes.

Prior to joining Allergan, he worked as a Senior Scientist in Kam Biotechnology in Surrey, Canada where he developed a lab scale platform for microbial hydrogen production from biological waste streams, provided proof-of-concept for a two-step continuous bioethanol production process, and supported manufacturing of bio-based (fungal and bacterial) products for applications in wastewater treatment.

Dr. Meghana Joshi, who joined KGI in February 2014, is the Program Director for Biocon-KGI certificate program in Biosciences based at KGI, California, USA. She comes with a strong foundation in Biopharmaceutical Business Development with a strong focus on emerging markets as well and over 5 years of Biotech research experience.

Dr. Joshi received her PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago, followed by post-doctoral experience at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas and Columbia University, New York. Prior to her doctoral work, she was an active business partner in Saraswati Agencies in Mumbai. Thereafter, she completed the KGI Post-Doctoral Professional master’s degree, a program training PhD’s to work in the Biotech industry.

Pukar Ratti currently serves as the Executive System Director of Research at CHRISTUS Health in Dallas, Texas. Prior to that, he has worked as Director of Clinical Research and Biobank at Ochsner Health System in Louisiana, and the Department Head of the Office of Research & Sponsored Projects at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, part of the Louisiana State University Health System. He passionately holds concurrent academic appointments at University of California Irvine (CA), Rutgers University (NJ), Keck Graduate Institute (CA/India), Dillard University (LA), and University of Phoenix (AZ). He has previously served as an Institutional Review Board (IRB) member on Ochsner Clinic Foundation’s IRB.

With multiple graduate degrees in Healthcare Management, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering, plus active certifications as Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) from Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) and Certified IRB Manager (CIM) from National Association of IRB Leaders (NAIL), Pukar has over 15 years of combined experience in Research Administration, Clinical Research, Preclinical research, Basic Science Research, Behavioral Research, Clinical Research Revenue Cycle, Project Management, IRB services, Contract negotiations, Student Mentorship, Operational Redesign, Grants Portfolio Management, Policy-making, Personnel Development, Strategic Planning, and Biobanking. Today, Pukar is one of the only 47 medical professionals in the entire State of Texas to have earned the prestigious title of Fellow of American College of Medical Practice Executives (FACMPE).

Dr. Linda Soo Hoo holds a PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology where she studied the molecular neuronal signaling characterized targeting and polarity molecular mechanisms in cells. She holds a Post-Doctoral Professional Masters in Bioscience Management from Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), and BS in Cell Biology and Biochemistry from UC San Diego.

She has been an Adjust Professor at KGI, California, teaching two masters-level courses on CMC Pharmaceutical Regulations which provides foundational knowledge surrounding current CMC issues, and best practices. Currently, she is the Associate Director of Process Development for Gilead Sciences where she serves as an integral part of cross-functional, cross-discipline team built out of new clinical manufacturing line.

Saurav Datta joined KGI as an Assistant Professor of the Amgen Bioprocessing Center in the Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences in January 2020. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), India from 2014-2019. He also worked as a Chemical Engineer (2011-2013) and as a Postdoctoral Fellow (2008-2010) at Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory.

He has major research contributions in the areas of bioprocessing (bioseparation, biocatalysis and bio-based product formation), water treatment, and CO2 capture. His current research interests encompass downstream processing of biopharmaceuticals, bioreaction engineering and bioinspired materials.

Datta earned his PhD from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky. He obtained master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) and University of Calcutta, India, respectively.

Dr. Hu Zhang received his PhD in Biochemical Engineering from the Department of Biochemical Engineering at University College London in 2004. He continued his postdoctoral research at University College London from 2004-2006 and at the Institute of Science and Technology in Medicine at Keele University in the UK from 2006-2009. In March 2009, he took a lectureship at the University of Adelaide in Australia to develop the Pharmaceutical Engineering program in the School of Chemical Engineering. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in January 2014. He joined KGI in April 2018 as a Professor in Bioprocessing.

Dr. Levitin, who joined KGI in March 2013, received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and her PhD in Biotechnology at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. She then worked on identifying new treatment options for patients suffering from Candida infections at the Biotechnology Research Institute – National Research Council of Canada. She conducted her postdoctoral studies at McGill University Medical School and at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Levitin is interested in studying host immune response to bacterial / fungal infections, and in developing vaccines for prevention of microbial infections. She is also interested in defining biomarkers for rapid detection of microbial infections and autoimmune diseases.

She is the Director of KGI’s Master of Science in Applied Life Sciences program and co-director of the Master of Science in Translational Medicine program.