Maybe you’ve come up with a great new idea for a multiplex assay, but you need some assistance optimizing the reagents. Or perhaps you just want some training in assay design to streamline internal development. When it comes to helping customers make the most of their xMAP® Technology, Stephen Angeloni is there. As a Maryland-based Senior Field Application Scientist, he works closely with customers to make sure their assays run as smoothly as possible. He earned his PhD in biochemistry from Virginia Tech and has been with Luminex since 2011.
Q: What are your responsibilities at Luminex?
A: My job is to help clients build assays on our bead-based technology. I work with them on selecting the best chemistry for their assay needs and help them develop it with their reagents in their lab. My goal is to help them get the assay up and running as soon as possible. We do this for companies, small startups, and even academia in cases where it’s a novel application that highlights the versatility of the Luminex platform.
Q: What did you do before this?
A: Prior to coming to Luminex, I was in academia for a number of years. I studied cancer, obesity, diabetes, vaccine development, and endocrinology. I worked with a number of molecular and proteomic applications as well as genetic, cellular, and protein engineering and helped develop online bioinformatics tools at Northrop Grumman. When I was looking for opportunities in the biotechnology industry, I focused on places that could use all those areas of experience.
Q: What drew you to Luminex?
A: When I first learned about the Luminex platform, I noticed its broad versatility for the development of proteomic and genomic applications. These characteristics, along with the ability to multiplex, convinced me that this was a platform that would revolutionize research and diagnostics. This was the type of platform that my diversified experience could promote in different research and diagnostic markets.
Q: If you could solve any clinical or genetic challenge, what would it be?
A: I would want to have more multiplex diagnostic assays that could fine-tune personalized medical diagnostics and treatment strategies. I recognized during my cancer research days that there are so many personal variations in all non-infectious diseases that produce the same clinical symptoms but can have different underlying biological causes from person to person.
Q: If you weren’t at Luminex, where would you be?
A: When I first started in science, I was more interested in plant or livestock genetic engineering. At the time these opportunities weren’t as available, but I would have enjoyed a career path in these fields.
Q: What is something about you that no one at Luminex knows?
A: I was once scuba diving 100 feet under water and ran out of air. I was spearfishing with a friend off of Cape Florida near Biscayne Bay in Miami. When my air supply started to run low, I was at the top of the reef and my friend was at the bottom of the reef. I tried to get to my friend but a big hog snapper shot out of the reef and he swam after it. By then my tank was totally dry, so I followed him, took my speargun, and jabbed him in the calf. When he saw my “no air” signal, he handed me his spare regulator.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do in Maryland on the weekend??
A: We live near a big reservoir, so whenever we can we go out there for walks. I also like to go fishing, sailing, hiking, or camping when the weather’s nice.
