David Kass Lempert Curriculum Vitae


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I am a first-year medical student interested in translational medicine, information technology, and theoretical biology. I enjoy computer programming and web development, and currently maintain two online projects that improve access to medical information. My professional experience includes several years of research in biomedicine and public health, serving as a director of an emergency response team, and working as a medical content director for a health information website and as an assistant to people with disabilities.



PUBLICATIONS
Effect of general anesthesia in infancy on long-term recognition memory in humans and rats
2014
Stratmann G, Lee J, Sall JW, Lee BH, Alvi RS, Shih J, Rowe AM, Ramage TM, Chang FL, Alexander TG, Lempert DK, Lin N, Siu KH, Elphick SA, Wong A, Schnair CI, Vu AF, Chan JT, Zai H, Michelle KW, Anthony AM, Barbour KC, Ben-Tzur D, Kazarian NE, Lee JY, Shen JR, Liu E, Behniwal GS, Lammers CR, Quinones Z, Aggarwal A, Cedars E, Yonelinas AP, Ghetti S. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(10), 2275 – 2287: Website; PDF.

EDUCATION
University of Queensland - Ochsner, M.B.B.S., expected 2017
Brisbane, QLD, Australia (pre-clinical)
New Orleans, LA, USA (clinical)

Pitzer College, B.A. Public Health and Science, Technology, & Society, 2009
Claremont, CA, USA
Double major. Relevant courses: Bioethics, Biotechnology, Mathematical Physiology, Philosophy of Science

Thesis:
Would you or wouldn’t you?: A report on the artifacts of performance enhancement on college campuses and the implications of their use.

Activities:
Institutional Review Board student member, Health Education Outreach, Outdoors Club treasurer, editor for the Asclepius Health Journal

RESEARCH
Research Assistant, UCSF Anesthesia Department
Stratmann Lab; San Francisco, CA, USA
December 2009 - September 2011
I worked in a lab that studies the physiological basis of anesthesia-induced cognitive deficits. My project examined the effects that neonatal exposure to anesthesia has on memory. I used an animal model to evaluate behavioral memory impairments in rats, then performed histology studies to learn more about the underlying mechanism of anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity. My lab has recently finished a manuscript detailing our findings, and it is currently being prepared for publication.

Analysis of Destabilising Noise in Bistable Systems, Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, CA, USA
September - December 2008
I worked with a team of students to investigate how feedback delay and noise effect the stability of nonlinear bistable systems. We used XPPAUT and python to evaluate the stochastic resonance in each of three models of bistable nonlinear feedback systems: the Mackey-Glass model, a postural sway model, and a genetic switches model. Our results suggested that incorporating the time delay of the feedback control system is crucial for characterizing stable bistable systems.

Study Coordinator, Pomona College
Health Education Outreach; Claremont, CA, USA
September 2007 – May 2008
I worked with volunteers, health officials, and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to administer the ACHA-NCHA student health survey to six colleges. This project included editing informed consent forms, writing IRB proposals, and facilitating the collection and evaluation of the survey data.

Research Intern, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
CHAMACOS laboratory; Berkeley, CA, USA
May - August 2006
I assisted with a pesticide exposure study. My responsibilities included creating a questionnaire and a food diary for study participants, and cataloging urine samples. The study, “Pesticides and their Metabolites in the Homes and Urine of Farmworker Children Living in the Salinas Valley, CA, USA,” was published in the Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology in July 2007.

WEB DEVELOPMENT
Australia Equity Group
2014
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
I designed the web buisness resources and developed the website for the Australia Equity Group. Theme for website frontend by Bootstraptaste.
Australia Equity Group

Nighthawk Scheduler
2014
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
I developed the Nighthawk Scheduling app for a physician group that wanted to enhance the way their practice handles shift-scheduling. In designing this app, intuitive ease-of-use was critical, as was accessibility and consistancy. I opted to develop this site using the Node.js server framework and to use a MongoDB NoSQL document database for the data.

The link below is for a sandbox version of the app, which you are welcome to interact with. Nighthawk

Avicenna eBook Search Engine
2013
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
I am often frustrated by the inefficiency of using pdf ebooks. Navigating to the correct chapter is often non-intuitive, they are easy to loose track of on my computer, and the keyword searching is both slow and unhelpful. I decided to create a better application for handling my medical textbooks to improve the accessibility of the excellent content they provide.

The Avicenna eBook Search app, named for the prolific 10th century physician and author of the same name, consists of several components. The app model is stored in a typical, highly abstracted MySQL relational database and controlled with PHP. The ebook text is also stored in the database, which allows for faster indexing than if the app dealt with the documents directly. I wrote a parser in Perl to extract the structure of each ebook and put it in my database. To mix things up, I wrote the rest of my document-handeling code in Python, including scripts to extract the text from eBooks and convert them to images to improve mobile accessibility. The app view is HTML and PHP, with a bit of javascript and AJAX for basic features like the table of contents modals on the home page.

I add features to this website as my free time allows. Most recently, I added a "word suggestion" feature to the search word field, which draws from a list of 9,000 medical terms. This website is password-protected due to copyright laws, but I am happy to share it with you upon request.
Avicenna

From Your Doctor
2012
Berkeley, CA, USA
I worked with a development team to build From Your Doctor, a consumer-oriented health information website. We used a model-view-controller app framework for the site based on Cake PHP. I did extensive work developing the view, as well as writing code for the database and content management system.
From Your Doctor

Fog Magazine
2009-present
Oakland, CA, USA
I created Fog Magazine as a venue for developing my thoughts about the role of science in our society and to practice writing about these topics for a variety of audiences. It focuses on issues related to scientific journalism, bioethics, and technology. In addition to the articles that I write, I also designed the website, manage the MySQL databases, and write the XML, HTML, PHP, and javascript code that is necessary for the site to function.
Fog Magazine

DASH Camp
2012
Oakland, CA, USA
DASH camp in a sports camp for Type 1 diabetic children. I volunteered my time to help set up the DASH website, SEO optimise it, and familiarize its director with how to manage a website.
DASH Camp

Amidst the Panic
2011
Oakland, CA, USA
I developed Amidst the Panic as a site to host music I have recorded. Instead of using a SQL database, I opted to develop a directory-based CMS for the website in PHP.
Amidst the Panic

MEDICAL EXPERIENCE
Medical Content Director, Vivacare Inc.
Berkeley, CA, USA
May 2010 - Dec 2012
I was responsible for writing, developing, and editing consumer/patient-oriented health education handouts for a patient education service provided to doctors by Vivacare. In this position, I developed several hundred handouts on topics including medications, diseases, and pathology. In the second half of 2012 I focused much of my attention to the technical challenges of developing a new consumer website for the company, fromyourdoctor.com.

Director, Pitzer Emergency Response Team
Claremont, CA, USA
2006 - 2008
I directed a team of EMTs and first responders to provide first aid services at seven colleges. I facilitated a weekly meeting in which I taught CPR and emergency preparedness skills, and lead discussions about health and safety. During my tenure as director, I spearheaded an Alcohol Response Unit, and sat on the College Safety Committee and the Student Senate.

Evening Attendant, Scott Luebking
Berkeley, CA, USA
May - August 2008
I assisted a professional man with a severe mobility disability. My responsibilities included helping him with his activities of daily living, medications, dressing, lifting him into bed, and preparing his medical equipment for the evening and following day.

Emergency Medical Technician, Medic-1 Ambulance
San Dimas, CA, USA
January - April 2007
I provided BLS care to sick, injured, and elderly patients during inter-facility ambulance transfer. Other duties included managing the ambulance supplies and writing reports for Emergency Departments, insurance agencies, and the Company's internal records.

Volunteer Medical Assistant, Glide Health Center
San Francisco, CA, USA
September - December 2006
I assisted clinicians at a free HIV testing and counseling clinic with patient care by taking vital signs, organizing and updating medical records, distributing condoms, and other administrative tasks.

OTHER EXPERIENCE
Wilderness Guide, Lifeschool Go Adventure!
Bodega, CA, USA
May - August 2007
I led teenagers aged 12-18 on trips into backcountry wildernesses in California, Colorado, and New Mexico. In this position I was responsible for administering backcountry first aid, teaching compass and map skills, environmental ethics, and rock climbing safety.

Swim Instructor, Piedmont Swim Club
Piedmont, CA, USA 2005 - 2009
I taught swim lessons to students aged 2-16 in levels ranging from elementary through advanced swim technique and water safety. I also gave weekly demonstrations of various pool safety procedures and interventions.

SOFTWARE PLATFORMS
These are the noteworthy software platforms, markup languages, and typesetting interfaces that I have used in a professional capacity for more than two years:

  • Data management
    Excel
    MySQL
    Git
    XAMPP
  • Markup languages
    HTML/XHTML
    LaTeX
    XML
  • Programming
    PHP

 

I am also competent in the following techniques and platforms:
  • Adobe Photoshop and Gimp
    Apache web server
    ASP.NET
    Biostatistics
    CakePHP and Laravel PHP frameworks
    CMS design and use (e.g. Drupal)
    General systems networking
    Inkscape
    jQuery/javascript
    Lucene/Solr search
  • Matplotlib/NumPy
    MVC design pattern
    MongoDB
    Node.js
    Perl
    Python
    R
    Ruby/Rails
    User experience design
    XPP/XPPAUT

 

I am competent in the following laboratory techniques:
Bacterial transformation
Column, gas, and TLC chromatography
DNA cloning
FISH staining
Fractional distillation
Gel electrophoresis
NMR and IR spectroscopy
PCR
Southern Blotting

HOBBIES
Bike touring
Music composition and audio engineering
Rock climbing
Surfing