“Careers in Cytometry“ Round Table Discussion
“Come join an exciting panel discussion on the various careers that flow cytometry has to offer, whether you are looking for a change or wanting to break into a part of the industry. Learn about some challenges that you may face or what you may need to learn to stand out from the crowd.”
Mark Rehse– “Mark Rehse has a cytometry career spanning almost 40 years in both technical and commercial roles. Starting at Scripps Clinic in 1986 working under Dr Larry Sklar where he first learned the technical science behind cytometry then at Genentech as part of the Cytometry Core and finally at CellPro, Inc near Seattle where he directed a core-for-hire cytometry lab service. As a commercial leader Mark was first Director of Operations for Europe for CompuCyte living and working in Europe between 1997 to 2002. He returned to the US in 2002 and transitioned to Western Region Cytometry Sales Director with Beckman Coulter and has since held several other commercial leadership roles. Mark retired in 2023 but was drawn back to help market and sell the startup Accellix platform in the western US. Mark currently lives in the greater Seattle area.”
Daniela Andrade– Daniela is a flow cytometry specialist with Miltenyi Biotec, supporting customers and fostering collaborations with scientists across the Pacific Northwest. Her academic experience with flow cytometry started during her PhD in Infectious Diseases at UC Berkeley, where she studied the antibody response to dengue virus infection. As a postdoctoral fellow at Seattle Children’s, she continued on the immunology journey, this time sorting antigen-specific B cells, a key part of her project aimed at sequencing the B cell repertoire post-immunization. While Daniela enjoyed working as a lab scientist, she also saw herself in a role that bridged science with business development and science communication. Since joining Miltenyi in 2021, Daniela has connected with a broad scientific audience and gained significant experience in the Cell and Gene Therapy field. Besides being constantly exposed to the latest technologies and product development, Daniela appreciates the positive interactions with customers and the networking opportunities this career offers.
Lynette Brown-Lynette has 20+ years professional experience in flow cytometry both in clinical and research settings. Lynette’s flow cytometry career started in 2001 at the Puget Sound Blood Center performing cross matching for organ donations. She then moved to SNBL, USA (now Altasciences) in Everett, WA in 2004 where she developed, qualified and validated numerous flow cytometry assays for NHP GLP testing. During this time at SNBL, USA, Lynette saw how important flow cytometry was to the drug development process, so in 2009 stepped out and formed a Contract Research Organization (CRO) dedicated to flow cytometry services, Flow Contract Site Laboratory, LLC, where she served as President of the company for 14 years. The company then was acquired in February 2024 by Translational Drug Development (TD2), Scottsdale, AZ to add flow cytometry capabilities to their many services. Lynette acts as the VP of Flow Cytometry Operations in Bothell, WA in her current position for TD2. In addition, Lynette is a board member of the Northwest Flow Cytometry Society, which provides educational activities and a forum for the flow cytometry community in the Pacific Northwest.
John Bui-John received his B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Washington. John has worked in immunology related labs for over 20 years in various focus areas including HIV, autoimmune disease and oncology in both academia and industry settings. These include the HIV Vaccine Trials Network at the Fred Hutch, Benaroya Research Institute, Novo Nordisk, Celgene/Bristol Meyers Squibb and now at a start-up biotech Sonoma Biotherapeutics. At the Hutch, he learned flow cytometry under Stephen DeRosa, who pioneered multiparameter flow alongside Mario Roederer and Leonard Hertzenberg.
From working with the different groups, he gained experience characterizing a diverse range of immune cell types associated with a given disease, developing assays used to progress programs throughout the drug development pipeline from early discovery to clinical stage.
As one of the first scientific staff at Sonoma Bio, he developed robust flow panels to phenotype their main drug: Regulatory T cell. He is currently a Scientist in the Translational Sciences Group to lead flow cytometry projects in clinical programs, including a first in-human Phase-I CAR-Treg trial in Rheumatoid Arthritis. The projects encompass developing validated assays to read out clinical endpoints and support mechanistic studies.
Thane Mittelstaedt-Thane graduated with a B.S in Biotechnology/Biochemistry from Eastern Washington University. Thane has worked in the Flow Cytometry field for 13 years in various capacities. At a CRO as a Research Associate is he was first introduced to Flow Cytometry running mainly TBNK panels, 4 and 6 color panels under GLP conditions. Working under Michele Black at the UW Cell Analysis Facility core lab, he learned more about panel design, data analysis, experiment, and instrument troubleshooting. At Becton Dickinson as a Field Service Engineer, he got trained in troubleshooting and repairing almost all the BD flow cytometry platforms.
Currently, Thane is the Director of the UW Cell Analysis Facility core lab, where he has updated the calendar and billing systems and implemented a new data server.