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Erika Lasda has worked in various research and development positions since 1997. Erika began as a volunteer schoolteacher and caregiver at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos in 1997. In 2000, they became a research technician at Duke University Medical Center, working under Principal Investigator Mariano Garcia-Blanco, M.D., Ph.D. In 2004, they joined the University of Colorado Denver as a Graduate Research Assistant under Principal Investigator Tom Blumenthal, Ph.D., where they developed a system for C. In 2010, they joined the University of Colorado Boulder as a Postdoctoral Research Associate under Principal Investigator Roy Parker, Ph.D., where they analyzed how mammalian cells deal with backspliced circRNAs. Erika was later promoted to Lab Manager and Research Scientist, and Co-Director of the COVID-19 Monitoring Lab. In 2020, they joined TUMI Genomics as a Research and Development Scientist, where they developed a rapid point-of-care diagnostic assay for COVID-19 and expanded R&D point-of-care assays to agricultural pathogens. Most recently, in 2021, they joined the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus as a Research Scientist under Principal Investigator Jay Hesselberth, Ph.D., where they are researching RNA damage and repair, and mRNA-encapsulating lipid nanoparticles.

Erika Lasda received their Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology from the University of Richmond in 1997. Erika then went on to obtain their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of Colorado Denver in 2010.