Paige O’Leary

Durham, North Carolina, USA |+1.618.917.8680 |[email protected] linkedin.com/in/paige-o-leary-7a3b66174 Citizenship: Canadian |Language: English (native)

Relevant skills

  • Strong interpersonal, organizational and leadership skills
  • Ability to foster collaborative working relationships
  • Advanced ability to think critically and problem-solve
  • Competencies in written and verbal communication
  • Competencies in qualitative, quantitative and Human-Centered Design research strategies
  • Software Expertise: Velocity, ImageJ, Quality One 1-D Analysis, GraphPad Prism 5, Matlab, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Redcap, Stata14
  • Personal Attributes: self-motivated, commitment to excellence, community-minded, organized, ability to think critically and solve-problems, resourceful

Education                                                                                               

Master of Science in Global Health. Duke University, Duke Global Health Institute– Durham, North Carolina, USA – Expected May 2021 

Master of Science in Cells and Systems Biology. University of Toronto–Toronto, Ontario, CANADA – August 2019 

Bachelor of Science, Life Science neuroscience specialization – Honours. Queen’s University –Kingston, Ontario, CANADA – May 2017

Awards

  • Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) merit scholarship – 2019-2020
  • Fieldwork Research Grant DGHI – 2020
  • MSc- Global Health Professional Development Grant – 2020
  • National Funding from the Canada Research Chair (CRC) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program – 2018- 2019
  • Recognized as part of the Top 3% GPAs of all Arts and Science Students at Queen’s University – 2017
  • Principals Scholarship Queen’s University – 2013-2015

Experience

Laboratory Research Experience

University of Toronto Graduate School – Scarborough, Ontario – Sept 2017-Aug 2019

  • Lead scientist investigating the effects of caffeine and cafestol on the induction of heat shock proteins HSPA6 (HSP70B’) and HSPA1A (HSP70-1) in Human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.
  • Planned and conducted experiments on human neuroblastoma cells which involved cell line maintenance, viability, immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, and western blots, developed the literature review and led the writing of the thesis and related publication. Trained and monitored undergraduate laboratory assistants.
  • National Funding from the Canada Research Chair (CRC) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program ($17,000 CAD; Sept 2018-August 2019) supported this research.

Queen’s University Undergraduate – Kingston, Ontario, Sept 2016-May 2017

  • Lead scientist seeking to understand mechanisms of spasticity: effect of downregulation of the potassium chloride co-transporter on the strength of inhibitory synapses located on the dendrites of the spinal motoneuron.
  • Responsible for creating the research question, designing the computational experiments, poster presentation, project write-up, and cumulative project defense.

Clinical Research Experience

Duke University– Durham, North Carolina – Sept 2019-Present

  • As a research assistant analyze and write manuscripts, submit papers, literature reviews, peer-review papers, evaluate survey tools, create presentations and abstract submissions for conferences, and develop human-centered design research tools.
  • Research areas include traumatic brain injury, post-injury mental health, health systems data collection processes, injury and noncommunicable diseases, epidemiology of pediatric traumatic brain injury, patient versus family reporting injury data reliability, and clinical trial for alcohol use and injury.
  • Lead scientist conducting a feasibility assessment of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) predictive modeling tool at a tertiary level hospital in Moshi Tanzania.

Royal Columbian Hospital, Anesthesiology Department – Vancouver, British Columbia – June 2017-August 2017

  • Led a colonoscopy and anesthesia study by contacting patients and conducting satisfaction questionnaires that were designed using REDCap.
  • Responsible for piloting a new anesthesia monitoring machine during electroconvulsive shock therapy.
  • Wrote the literature review for a clinical study of epidural usage and patient satisfaction in Vancouver.
  • Analyzed secondary data for a cardiac study exploring comorbidities and patient outcomes.

First Author Research Publications

  • “Induction of Heat Shock Proteins in Differentiated Human SH-SY5Y Neuronal Cells by Caffeine and Cafestol” Journal of Neuroscience (In preparation 2020)
  • “Induction of Heat Shock Proteins in Differentiated Human SH-SY5Y Neuronal Cells by Caffeine and Cafestol” Thesis Publication (To be released in 2021)

 Research Presentations

  • Poster Presenter at the 2020 World Congress of Bioethics – Philadelphia, USA (June 2020)
  • Poster Presenter at Southern Ontario neuroscience association – Guelph and Windsor, Ontario (May 2018,2019)

Employment Experience

Duke University Teaching Assistant eCourse- Online, June 2020 – Present – I mentor students internationally for career guidance and supervise student projects from the idea phase through to implementation.

Duke University Research Assistant for Dr. Catherine Stanton – Durham, North Carolina  Sept 2019-Present  – I contribute to analyzing and writing current papers, submitting papers, preparing literature reviews, peer-reviewing papers, evaluating a survey tool, and developing my thesis project.

Teaching Assistant for undergraduate courses – Scarborough, Ontario Sept 2017-Aug 2019- In the biological science department, I was a teaching assistant for Human Biology: Development and Anatomy, Animal Physiology Lab, and Microbiology. I was responsible for running weekly 2-hour lab sections, which involved fetal pig, worm and frog dissections, electrophysiology, urine and blood analysis, crayfish handling, creating and marking quizzes, and exams.

Entrepreneurship: Backyard Red Cross Swimming with Linna and Paige – Brooklin, Ontario June 2010-Present – My sister and I operate our own business teaching swimming lessons in our backyard pool to more than 100 clients. This commitment has furthered my professional development particularly my leadership and management skills through co-teaching, growing the business, and learning how to effectively teach each child. Furthermore, this job has taught me how to engage with a variety of people and to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing. As part of my responsibilities, I had to attain and regularly recertify the top national qualification in lifeguarding and swim instruction, as well as CPR-C and AED training.

International Experience

Study abroad semester– Christchurch, New Zealand Jan 2016-July2016

Kenya ME-to-WE Volunteer – Masai Mara, Kenya June 2013

Leadership and Community Service

  • COMMUNITY, DIVERSITY, and INCLUSION COMMITTEE DUKE, Selected Member, North Carolina (2020)
  • DUKE BASS CONNECTION OPEN DESIGN, Team Faculty Researcher, Durham, North Carolina (2020)
  • WORKING GROUP FOR MATERNAL, SEXUAL, & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Participant, Durham, North Carolina (2020)
  • GRADUATE SCHOOL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, Mentor, Scarborough, Ontario (2018-2019)
  • CANADIAN FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH (CANFAR) University of Toronto– Associate, Scarborough, Ontario (2018-2019)
  • HEART AND STROKE ACTIVATE PROGRAM, Intake specialist, Toronto, Ontario (2018-2019)
  • ‘VOLUNTEER TORONTO’, Mentor, Toronto, Ontario (2018-2019)
  • SCIENCE RENDEZVOUS, Volunteer Judge, Toronto, Ontario (2018)
  • SATURDAY PROGRAM, Tutor, Toronto, Ontario (2017-2018)
  • UTSC WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM, Team member, Scarborough, Ontario (2017-2019)
  • PLAY LIKE A GIRL QUEEN’S, Vice President of Membership, Kingston, Ontario (2016-2017)
  • ORIENTATION WEEK, Leader, Kingston, Ontario (2016)
  • QUEEN’S SOLAR DESIGN TEAM, Education team leader, Kingston, Ontario (2016-2017)
  • KINGSTON GENERAL HOSPITAL, Volunteer, Kingston, Ontario (2015-2017)
  • EXCHANGE BUDDIES QUEEN’S, Buddy for international students, Kingston, Ontario (2015-2017)
  • QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY MODEL PARLIAMENT, Delegate, Kingston, Ontario (2015, 2017)
  • CANADIAN UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON HEALTH CARE, Participant, Kingston, Ontario (2015)
  • MINI MBA CERTIFICATE, Participant, Scarborough, Ontario (2017)
  • LEVEL 1 SKI INSTRUCTOR, Camp coach, Orono, Ontario (2016)