Stephanie Pearlman

Dr. Pearlman specializes in the development of molecular diagnostics, utilizing her diverse experiences at the interface of molecular biology, infectious disease, microbiology, and micro/nanoengineering. She has experience working collaboratively with international teams across the entire product lifecycle, starting from project feasibility through FDA Verification and Validation study design, testing, and documentation.

Dr. Pearlman has extensive expertise focused on direct sample preparation for many forms of clinical sample matrices, ranging from non-invasive swab specimens to tumor tissue biopsies, for downstream use in clinical diagnostic and molecular assay development applications.

She is a Biomedical Engineer by training, with a decade's worth of interdisciplinary lab experience. She has deep expertise running traditional biological assays, including immunoassays, kinetic binding, nucleic acid amplification tests (e.g., RT-qPCR, ddPCR), including isothermal methods (e.g., LAMP, SDA), Western blotting, and brightfield and fluorescence microscopy. She is experienced with bioconjugate techniques for protein modification and characterization. She has extensive experience culturing and transforming bacteria (including Mycobacteria spp.), protozoa (e.g., Giardia spp. Entamoeba spp. Trichomonas spp.), and mammalian and human cell lines. She also has a variety of experience with micro/nano materials characterization techniques, including contact angle goniometry, UV-Vis spectroscopy, rheometry, and colloid characterization (Zetasizer and NanoSight).

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Pearlman worked at Sherlock Biosciences, Inc., where she leveraged her specific expertise in sample preparation for development, formulation, packaging, long-term stability, and FDA Verification and Validation Studies of a disposable, at-home nucleic acid-based test for combined Chlamydia and Gonorrhea diagnosis. She was also responsible for design and development of a novel tongue swab-based tuberculosis lateral flow test meant to replace traditional sputum testing.

For her formal training, Dr. Pearlman completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation focused on improvement of current methods used for genetic and microscopic diagnosis of tuberculosis in the most resource-limited and highest-burdened parts of the world, some of which was in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to her Ph.D., she worked as an undergraduate research assistant at University of California, Irvine, where she focused on microfluidic applications for personalized cancer diagnostics.