Alumni

Soon-Keat Ooi, PhD

Soon-Keat (he/him) joined the CCI community at Penn when he became the first postdoc at the
Herbst-Nowrouzi Lab in June 2022. In the lab, Soon-Keat seeks to apply his molecular biology
and biochemistry insight to contribute to the ongoing effort in improving and innovating current
immune cell-based cancer therapies. Collaborating with colleagues across the Penn campus,
Soon-Keat currently focuses his work on the optimization of methods widely used to assess the
activity and specificity of CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing enzymes in human blood cells.
Soon-Keat received his Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Genetics from the National
University of Malaysia, where he worked in the lab of Sheila Nathan to conduct undergraduate
research and, subsequently, remained in the same lab to further his research on dissecting the
virulence mechanism of Burkholderia pseudomallei (the causative agent of melioidosis) using
Caenorhabditis elegans as the animal host model. To broaden his research expertise, Soon-
Keat later attended the Graduate School of The Stowers Institute for Medical Research. For
Ph.D. training, Soon-Keat was co-mentored by Joan W. Conaway and Ronald C. Conaway, on
research aimed at delineating the biochemical mechanism underlying the exquisite regulation of
several human chromatin remodeling and DNA repair enzymes -- INO80, ALC1, and PARP1.
There, Soon-Keat not only acquired extensive protein biochemistry and enzymology training
from Joan and Ronald but also got inspired to translate his knowledge to help develop impactful
biotherapeutics that can surmount debilitating human diseases.
A Chinese born in Malaysia, Soon-Keat is well-versed in several languages and is frequently
taking advantage of that to mingle with people, both casually and intellectually. Outside the lab,
you will find Soon-Keat relaxing and reading scientific literature at home, intensely
playing/training badminton games, and exploring new cuisines in the city.

Gozde Sir Karakus, MSc

Gozde obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Ege University in Izmir, Turkey in 2012. She further pursued her studies and earned a Master of Science degree in Stem Cell Biology.

Driven by her interest in cellular therapy, Gozde gained experience as a Product Specialist at the Acıbadem Healthcare Labcell Laboratory in Istanbul, Turkey. In this role, she focused on developing various cellular immunotherapeutic products in a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) environment for direct clinical application.

Gozde then joined HGEL as a Research Specialist, where she took lead in projects related to primary cell enrichment and scale-up processes. Her main objective is to enhance the clinical manufacturing of genetically engineered cell-based products by implementing novel strategies and innovative technologies.