Biotechnology Faculty – Office of Professional Programs

Mark Schenerman, Ph.D | Graduate Program Director

Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Florida
B.S., Medical Technology, University of Maryland

Dr. Mark Schenerman is currently Graduate Program Director and Professor of the Practice of Biotechnology at UMBC. He is also President of a consulting firm (CMC Biotech-MAS Consulting) that he founded and is advising academic, industry, and regulatory agency groups. He is an experienced biopharmaceutical scientist and executive (over 25 years) who was responsible for leading cross-functional Chemistry, Manufacturing, & Control (CMC) strategy and teams at Novavax and MedImmune/AstraZeneca. Dr. Schenerman headed an R&D group at MedImmune/AstraZeneca that performed structural and biological characterization of preclinical and clinical products, stability and release testing, technology transfer to quality control and ongoing product development support. Since joining MedImmune in 1994, Dr. Schenerman played an integral role in developing and leading the company’s Analytical Biochemistry function, supporting all stages of product development.

Prior to joining MedImmune, Dr. Schenerman held positions in biologics development and research and development at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and was a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology at the University of Maryland and his doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Florida.

Dr. Annica Wayman, Ph.D. | Associate Dean

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, UMBC

Dr. Annica Wayman is the Associate Dean for Shady Grove Affairs in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) for UMBC. She is responsible for administering and directing the undergraduate Translational Life Sciences Technology (TLST) program and Master of Professional Studies in Biotechnology at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG).

Dr. Wayman received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UMBC and Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focus at Georgia Tech was on selectin-mediated cell adhesion. Following Georgia Tech, Dr. Wayman worked at Becton, Dickinson & Co. (BD) where she served in various R&D engineering roles ranging from advanced technology development to new product development for their anesthesia platform. Immediately prior to her UMBC appointment as Associate Dean, she was Division Chief of the Research Partnerships for Development unit in the Global Development Lab at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where her team managed scientific research policies and programs for the agency and its more than 90 field offices worldwide and developed research partnerships with higher education institutions, federal science agencies, global development institutions, and private sector companies.

Sanjeev Ahuja, Ph.D. | Graduate Faculty

Ph.D., Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, UMBC
M.S., Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology

Sanjeev Ahuja joined the Biotechnology program as an instructor in 2008. As Senior Scientist in MedImmune’s Process Cell Culture department in Gaithersburg, MD, he manages process development, scale up, scale down, commercial support, and technology development in support of mammalian cell culture processes.

He is equally involved in applying statistical principles to development of cell culture processes and data mining techniques to enhance the understanding of commercial bioprocesses. Prior to joining MedImmune, Dr. Ahuja had extensive experience in various aspects of development and commercialization of upstream processes including bacterial fermentation, mammalian cell culture, and associated primary recovery unit operations at Biogen Idec, Human Genome Sciences, and Baxter Healthcare Corporation. He primarily teaches BTEC 652: Applied Bioprocess Engineering. Additionally, he is Six Sigma certified, has one patent, and is published in a variety of journals.

View Dr. Ahuja’s public LinkedIn profile.

Darren Dasburg | Graduate Faculty

M.B.A., Duke University
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University

Bringing over 39 years of technical operations experience in a variety of small and large molecule settings, Darren Dasburg recently departed AstraZeneca as Vice President Global PMO & Strategy in 2017 after his role as Site GM for the Boulder Manufacturing Center beginning in September 2015 when AstraZeneca/MedImmune acquired the former Amgen biologics production facility, retrofitted and started up through 2017. He is currently in advancing discussions for cell and gene therapy start-ups.

Previously, Darren held the position of Vice President MedI BioVentures building partnerships in Korea, Japan and China for biosimilar development. Before then, VP of Capacity Utilization with where he led the first of its kind capacity sharing arrangement to support bio-manufacturing production. Prior to that, he was a Founding Partner in a consulting venture where he provided executive management team leadership in the areas of technical operations, manufacturing operations, project management, and business strategy. Darren did his formative years and ultimately served as Vice President of Corporate Engineering with GlaxoSmithKline.

Darren holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University and a MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and advanced certificates in biotechnology from MIT. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in North Carolina and has worked on the ISPE Bio Mfg Conference since its inception.

Greg Hamilton, Ph.D. | Adjunct Instructor

Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Virginia
M.P.S., Biotechnology, UMBC
B.S., Biological Chemistry, University of Virginia

Dr. Hamilton has been an instructor in the MPS Biotechnology program at UMBC since 2017. He has over thirty years of experience in the pharma and biotech industries, both in R&D and in intellectual property management. His experience in pharma/biotech research spans several therapeutic areas and multiple companies. He was Vice-President of Chemistry at Guilford Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Artesian Therapeutics, Inc. before joining MGI PHARMA (subsequently Eisai Inc.) as Sr. Director of Intellectual Property. Compounds of his invention have entered human clinical trials for Parkinson’s Disease, erectile dysfunction following radical prostatectomy, congestive heart failure, and wound healing.

Dr. Hamilton has a bachelor’s degree in Biological Chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry (natural products total synthesis), both from the University of Virginia, and has been a member of the US patent bar since 2004. He also has an MPS degree in Biotechnology from UMBC. He is founding editor and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Central Nervous System Agents: Medicinal Chemistry. He is currently Director of Chemistry and Intellectual Property at Acidophil LLC, a Baltimore area biotechnology incubator shop.

Kevin Knapstein | Adjunct Instructor

Master of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park
B.S., Physiology, University of Maryland, College Park
B.S., Biological Resources Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park

Kevin Knapstein has over 14 years of experience in process development, technology transfer, and biotech curriculum development. In his previous role as the Manager within the Biotechnology Research and Education Program (BREP) at the University of Maryland, he provided upstream process development, scale-up, and tech transfer for a variety of biotech clients in the pre-clinical workspace. In addition, he has over 10 years of experience developing course curriculums for undergraduate and graduate engineering courses with a focus on practical biotechnology and biopharmaceutical engineering applications. His current work involves technology transfer consulting.

Kevin received a B.S. in Biological Resources Engineering, B.S. in Physiology, and a Master of Engineering all from the University of Maryland – College Park.

Ken Miller, Ph.D. | Adjunct Instructor

Ph.D., Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
B.S., Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Ken Miller has 18 years of CMC analytical experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He is currently a leader in the Quality Control Analytical Technologies (QCAT) organization at BioMarin Pharmaceutical and is responsible for the centralized program management of stability, reference standards and critical reagents for clinical and commercial programs within BioMarin’s portfolio. Prior to joining BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Dr. Miller served in leadership positions with MedImmune Biopharmaceutical Development and AstraZeneca Biologics Global Technical Operations.

Dr. Miller received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University. He currently teaches BTEC 664: Quality Control and Quality Assurance of Biotechnology Products and serves as a guest lecturer for BTEC 660: Development and Regulation of Biopharmaceuticals.

Antonio Moreira | Vice Provost, Graduate Faculty

Ph.D., Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
M.S., Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal

Antonio Moreira is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and a professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Moreira has both previous (Schering-Plough Corporation) and ongoing biotechnology industry contacts and experience. He draws from first-hand work in research and development, scale-up and introduction to commercialization of biotechnology products, such alpha interferon. Dr. Moreira has an active research program in bioprocess engineering and is a consultant to various biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

He has received various awards including a NATO Senior Fellowship and the James Aggalloco Award from the Parenteral Drug Association. He served as the President for the Chesapeake Bay Area Chapter of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering; he is immediate past-chair of the Council for Biotechnology Centers for the BIO Industry Organization, and serves on scientific advisory boards for various organizations. Dr. Moreira is Chairman of Peritus Consultants, Inc. an international consulting corporation. He is also a graduate of Leadership Maryland, class of 1998.

He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Porto in Portugal and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Moreira is the Graduate Program Director for the Graduate Certificate in Biochemical Regulatory Engineering. He currently teaches BTEC 660: Regulatory Issues in Biotechnology and BTEC 662: Good Manufacturing Practices and Bioprocesses.

View Dr. Moreira’s public LinkedIn profile.

Irina Ramos | Adjunct Instructor

Ph.D., Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, UMBC
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Oporto

Irina Ramos has over 7 years of experience in Biopharmaceutical Downstream Processing Development. As Scientist in MedImmune’s Purification Process Sciences department in Gaithersburg, MD, she manages downstream process development and optimization, scale up, technology transfer activities into cGMP manufacturing to supply clinical trials and contributes to regulatory submissions.

Dr. Ramos received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oporto, School of Engineering and her Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from UMBC. She primarily teaches BTEC 653.

View Dr. Ramos’ LinkedIn profile.

Carol Spiegel, J.D | Adjunct Professor

J.D., George Washington University
M.Sc., Johns Hopkins University
B.Sc., Mundelein College of Loyola University (Chicago)

Carol A. Spiegel is a former Administrative Patent Judge, serving at the U.S Patent and Trademark Office from 1999-2010 before retiring from federal government service. Judge Spiegel specialized in Biotechnology and chemical arts; adjudicating ex parte appeals, reissue ex parte and inter partes reexaminations, as well as interference cases. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Judge Spiegel served as a Primary Examiner in the Biotechnology Group. Judge Spiegel received numerous awards at the Patent Office, including Department of Commerce Bronze and Gold Medals. Prior to joining the Patent Office, she worked at a variety of technical, supervisory and management positions in hospital clinical libraries.

She is also board certified as a Chemist and Specialist in Clinical Chemistry by the American Society for Clinical Pathology. Judge Spiegel is a member of the MAryland State Bar and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and is a registered attorney before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Since retiring from federal service, Judge Spiegel has co-authored multiple editions and supplements of Post-Grant Patent Practice (Bloomberg BNA Press), consulted on a various patent litigation matters, been of Counsel at Carmichael IP, and has lectured on legal and ethical issues in biotechnology and public health (including UMBC and FAES at NIH). She currently enjoys retirement and consulting on patent matters.

Savannah Tonn | Adjunct Professor

M.S., Biotechnology, University of Maryland Global Campus
B.S., Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College

Savannah Tonn is a Manufacturing Learning and Operational Excellence Manager at Regenxbio, where she focuses on creating and implementing training and continuous improvement programs to support the gene therapy manufacturing organization. Prior to her current position within gene therapy manufacturing at Regenxbio, she has held roles in both small molecule and monoclonal antibody drug manufacturing facilities. In her career she has been dedicated to learning and development, quality, and biomanufacturing. In her role as an Adjunct Instructor at UMBC, Savannah is passionate about collaborating with students to create an engaging learning environment for all. Savannah received a Bachelor’s of Science in Health and Nutrition Sciences from Brooklyn College and a Master’s of Science in Biotechnology with a specialization in Biotechnology Management from University of Maryland Global Campus.

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