A professional headshot of Samuel Fehling, a smiling man with red hair, wearing a black suit jacket, white shirt, and black tie. He is positioned on the left side of the frame against a dark background, with large wooden barrels faintly visible behind him.

Biomedical Scientist &
Drug Discovery

Samuel C.
Fehling, PhD

Resume & CV
Work Experience
Technical Skills
Education
Publications
Contact

Preclinical Research & Translation

Designing rigorous in vitro and in vivo studies to evaluate targets, characterize therapeutics and support preclinical development decisions.

Assay Development & Screening

Building robust screening and characterization platforms for small molecules and antibodies, including kinetic analysis workflows.

Scientific Contributions & Impact

10+ years across industry and academia, with 11 peer-reviewed publications, 30+ molecular diagnostic assays developed and multiple therapeutic candidates.

About Sam

Senior Scientist with more than 10 years of experience in translational oncology, molecular diagnostics, preclinical pharmacology and discovery of small molecules and antibody therapeutics. Experienced in designing and executing in vitro and in vivo studies, validating targets, developing assays and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams to advance drug discovery programs.

Work Experience

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Sr. Research Biologist

• July 2025 – Present

Preclinical Assay Validation

Designed and qualified total and free drug target assays on the Gyrolab xPlore platform for non-human primate (NHP) pharmacodynamic studies, authoring formal validation reports.

Regulatory Enablement

Accelerated preclinical pipelines by screening antibody candidates and generating figures and study reports to support Investigational New Drug (IND) filings.

Therapeutic Characterization

Performed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) kinetics and cross-reactivity assays on the Biacore T200 using Protein A and CM5 chips to evaluate antibody therapeutics.

Research Biologist

• December 2022 – July 2025

High-Throughput Screening

Screened and characterized the efficacy and mechanism of action of thousands of small molecule and antibody candidates using cell-based and cell-free in vitro assays to drive medicinal chemistry and protein science pipelines.

Pharmacodynamic Modeling

Evaluated rodent and NHP pharmacodynamics by analyzing plasma samples from treated models to quantify total and free protein expression levels.

BioGX, Inc.

Research & Development Scientist

• February 2020 – December 2022

Molecular Assay Engineering

Developed 30+ extraction-free, direct-addition PCR assays for custom and FDA EUA-approved diagnostic products including influenza, COVID-19 and Staphylococcus.

Instrumentation & Qualification

Executed end-to-end development and instrument qualifications (IQ/OQ/PQ) across BD MAX, QuantStudio, Bio-Rad and ABI 7500 platforms.

Quality Assurance & Data Modeling

Used QC risk assessments to validate outgoing commercial products, guide critical design decisions and train technical personnel.

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Graduate Research Assistant

• August 2014 – December 2019

Target Validation & Translational Oncology

Investigated preclinical research of BET and PARP inhibitors in pancreatic cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, resulting in 4 co-authored, peer-reviewed publications.

In Vivo & In Vitro Disease Modeling

Developed and maintained patient-derived xenograft (PDX) murine models, performing dosing schedules (oral gavage, IP injections) and establishing novel primary cell culture lines from patient tumors.

Measured Therapeutic Synergy

Used combinatorial treatments of BET inhibitors with chemotherapy both in vitro and in vivo to measure the synergy of therapeutics for cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer.

Technical Skills

Close-up of a researcher wearing a blue lab coat and light blue nitrile gloves, gently cradling a small white albino mouse in their open palms.

Murine Mouse Models

Experienced with athymic nude & C57BL/6 mice, oral gavage, intraperitoneal (IP) injection and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models.

Several small stacks of petri dishes with red markings, glass bottles, and purple pipette tip boxes organized on a reflective surface inside a laminar flow hood.

In Vitro / Primary Cell Culture

Utilizing commercially available cell culture lines & developing primary cell culture lines from patient tumors.

Close-up of a hand in a white lab glove holding a strip of eight clear microcentrifuge tubes filled with liquid, set against a blurred blue laboratory background.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Qualified in PCR platforms including BD MAX, Thermo Fisher QuantStudio, Bio-Rad CFX, ABI 7500, SmartCycler and BioGX Pixl.

Laboratory Techniques

  • ELISA
  • Western Blotting
  • PCR and qPCR
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)
  • Antibody Screening
  • Target Validation

Preclinical Research

  • Cell Culture (Immortalized and Primary)
  • Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Models
  • Murine Xenograft Models
  • Pharmacodynamic (PD) Studies

Instrumentation

  • Gyrolab xPlore
  • Biacore T200
  • Bio-Rad CFX96 / 364
  • Thermo Fisher QuantStudio
  • ABI 7500

Scientific Software

  • GraphPad Prism
  • Biacore Evaluation Software
  • Gyrolab Evaluator
  • ImageJ (FIJI)
  • Microsoft 365

Creative Projects

Close-up of a person's fingers holding a Raspberry Pi circuit board, showcasing the USB ports, Ethernet jack, and GPIO pins, with vibrant blue and magenta neon lighting in the background.

Computers & Technology

Self-hosted website infrastructure, Linux systems administration, Docker environments, networking and automation projects demonstrating technical problem-solving outside the laboratory. This website is self-hosted on my personal Raspberry Pi 4.

Flat lay composition of drone racing gear on a light blue surface, including a quadcopter with an attached action camera, a multi-channel radio transmitter, and a black video headset.

DJI & First-Person View (FPV) Drones

Pilot skilled in operating DJI drones for photography / videography & FPV drones for acrobatics / stunts. Competent in ad-hoc electronic repairs such as wiring & soldering.

Mid-section view of a photographer carrying a backpack and holding a professional camera with a long lens, standing before a dramatic, sunlit mountain landscape with sharp peaks.

Photography & Photo Editing

Photographer with expertise in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, adept in mirrorless, smartphone and drone photography with over 110 stock photos sold through Shutterstock & Getty.

Education

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Cancer Biology)
2014 – 2019

  • Cancer Biology Newsletter Editorial Board
  • Cancer Biology Student Seminar Co-Organizer
  • Graduate Career Awareness and Trends (GCAT) Communications Director

University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (UWEC)

B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
2010 – 2014

  • Biology Club Treasurer
  • Molecular Movement Treasurer

Publications

11 Peer-Reviewed Articles with 410 Citations

Featured Publications

BET Inhibition Decreases HMGCS2 and Sensitizes Resistant Pancreatic Tumors to Gemcitabine

Aubrey L Miller, Samuel C Fehling, Rebecca B Vance, Dongquan Chen, Eric Josh Brown, M Iqbal Hossain, Eric O Heard, Shaida Andrabi, Hengbin Wang, Eddy S Yang, Donald J Buchsbaum, Robert CAM van Waardenburg, Susan L Bellis, Karina J Yoon.

Cancer Letters. 2024 June 28. (PMID: 38704133)

The BET Inhibitor JQ1 Augments the Antitumor Efficacy of Gemcitabine in Preclinical Models of Pancreatic Cancer

Aubrey L. Miller, Patrick L. Garcia, Samuel C. Fehling, Tracy L. Gamblin, Rebecca B. Vance, Leona N. Council, Dongquan Chen, Eddy S. Yang, Robert CAM van Waardenburg, Karina J. Yoon.

Cancers. 2021 July 11. (PMCID: PMC8303731)

The Combination of BET and PARP Inhibitors is Synergistic in Models of Cholangiocarcinoma

Samuel C. Fehling, Aubrey L. Miller, Patrick L. Garcia, Rebecca B. Vance, Karina J. Yoon.

Cancer Letters. 2019 October 9. (PMCID: PMC7017643)

The BET Inhibitor JQ1 Attenuates Double Strand Break Repair and Sensitizes Models of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma to PARP Inhibitors

Miller AL, Fehling SC, Garcia PL, Gamblin TL, Council LN, van Waardenburg RCAM, Yang ES, Bradner JE, Yoon KJ.

EBioMedicine. 2019 June. (PMCID: PMC6604668)

FTY720 Enhances the Anti-Tumor Activity of Carboplatin and Tamoxifen in a Patient-Derived Xenograft Model of Ovarian Cancer

Kreitzburg KM, Fehling SC, Landen CN, Gamblin TL, Vance RB, Arend RC, Katre AA, Oliver PG, van Waardenburg RCAM, Alvarez RD, Yoon KJ.

Cancer Letters. 2018 August 15(18): 30527-5. (PMCID: PMC6756795)

MicroRNA-31 is Required for Astrocyte Specification

Meares GP, Rajbhandari R, Gerigk M, Tien CL, Chang C, Fehling SC, Rowse A, Mulhern KC, Nair S, Gray GK, Berbari NF, Bredel M, Benveniste EN, Nozell SE.

Glia. 2018 May, 66(5): 987-998. (PMCID: PMC5851835)

A Comparative Study of All-atom Molecular Dynamics Simulation…

Fehling SC, Strom AM, Lehman BP, Andrews RJ, Bhattacharyya S, Hati S.

American Journal of Undergraduate Research. 2017 June; 14(2): 27-44 (DOI: 10.33697/AJUR.2017.012)

Loss of SOCS3 in Myeloid Cells Prolongs Survival in a Syngeneic Model of Glioma

McFarland BC, Marks MP, Rowse AL, Fehling SC, Gerigk M, Qin H, Benveniste EN.

Oncotarget. 2016 April 12; 7(15): 20621-35. (PMCID: PMC4991480)

Loss of Tumor Suppressive microRNA-31 Enhances TRADD/NF-κB Signaling in Glioblastoma

Rajbhandari R, McFarland BC, Patel A, Gerigk M, Gray GK, Fehling SC, Bredel M, Berbari NF, Kim H, Marks MP, Meares GP, Sinha T, Chuang J, Benveniste EN, Nozell SE.

Oncotarget. 2015 July 10; 6(19): 17805-16. (PMCID: PMC4627347)

Comparison of Intrinsic Dynamics of Cytochrome p450 Proteins Using Normal Mode Analysis

Dorner ME, McMunn RD, Bartholow TG, Calhoon BE, Conlon MR, Dulli JM, Fehling SC, Fisher CR, Hodgson SW, Keenan SW, Kruger AN, Mabin JW, Mazula DL, Monte CA, Olthafer AG, Sexton AE, Soderholm BR, Strom AM, Hati S.

Protein Science. 2015 September; 24(9): 1495-507. (PMCID: PMC4570543)

Probing the Global and Local Dynamics of Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases using All-Atom and Coarse-Grained Simulations

Strom AM, Fehling SC, Bhattacharyya S, Hati S.

Journal of Molecular Modeling. 2014 May; 20(5): 2245 (PMCID: PMC4030129)

Contact

LinkedIn • Google Scholar • GitHub • ORCID • ResearchGate

Open to Scientist, Senior Scientist, Principal Scientist and Translational Research opportunities in oncology, immunology and drug discovery.

Open to relocation.

Email: [email protected]

Outside the Lab

I Love Exploring Our National Parks and Road Tripping Across the Country. Full Stories Can Be Found On Our Travel Blog, With Each Mile

A high-angle view of snow-blanketed travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, showing pockets of exposed mineral pools steaming against a winter backdrop of snow-dusted valleys and distant ridges.
Yellowstone National Park, WY
An elevated drone perspective of harbor entry piers featuring a white lighthouse with a red roof on the main breakwater, looking across blue water toward a coastal city built onto a rising hill.
Duluth, MN
A vertical landscape shot of a still alpine lake with a pebbled shoreline, smooth rocks, and a piece of driftwood in the shallow foreground, perfectly mirroring snow-capped mountains under an overcast blue sky.
Glacier National Park, MT
A deep-focus shot from a canyon overlook featuring rugged stone formations and green brush in the foreground, looking out over the vast, expansive depths and layered red rock walls of the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Looking down the expansive Yosemite Valley from a high vantage point, flanked by the vertical granite wall of El Capitan on the left and Cathedral Rocks on the right, with a thick carpet of pine trees covering the valley floor.
Yosemite National Park, CA
A side view of the wide American Falls at Niagara rushing over the crest, creating a heavy plume of white spray over the turquoise river below, with modern hotel towers visible on the distant horizon.
Niagara Falls, NY
A high-angle drone shot capturing the blue waters of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, featuring speedboats, boat slips, and the distinct city skyline under a clear sky.
Baltimore, MD
A landscape photograph featuring a foreground of low shrubs and dry grasses, with the expansive, rolling crests of the Great Sand Dunes stretching across the horizon beneath a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds.
Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO
Looking through the giant opening of a red sandstone archway at Arches National Park, revealing a rugged canyon landscape, smaller rock towers, and a group of distant visitors.
Arches National Park, UT
A serene lake scene framed by dense pine forests on both sides, with the snow-dusted peak of Mount Hood centered in the background and mirrored clearly in the still water.
Mount Hood, OR
A high-alpine winter scene with patches of snow and a small puddle of water in the foreground, bordered by a dense evergreen forest that leads to the majestic, snow-covered peak of Mount Rainier.
Mount Rainier National Park, WA
A sweeping overhead view of a coastal peninsula, showing tropical turquoise ocean waters on one side, a white sandy beachfront, coastal properties, and a deep blue bay on the other.
Clearwater, FL