The AGL Cytogenetic Team Leaders
John C Hozier, PhD, DABMG, FACMG
President, Chief Scientific Officer
Jeanne Cunningham, BS
Laboratory Operations Manager
Bryan K Hall, MS, CG(ASCP)CM
Technical Director
Heidi Brand, BS
Laboratory Operations Coordinator
Alisha Colón, PhD
Cell Culture Specialist
Lynn Silvestri, PhD
Quality Assurance Manager
Applied Genetics Laboratories is your partner in cytogenetic analysis and genomic research.
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Applied Genetics Laboratories is your partner in cytogenetic analysis and genomic research.
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Stay up to date
Lynn Silvestri, PhD
Quality Assurance Manager
Dr. Silvestri completed her graduate work in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Florida, where she studied poliovirus RNA replication. Lynn completed her post-doctoral training in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Her post-graduate research focused on studying the roles of viral genomic RNAs and proteins in the replication of rotavirus and Ebola virus. Lynn joined AGL in 2013. She is responsible for Quality Assurance in accordance with FDA Good Laboratory Practice regulations for non-clinical Cell Line Characterization studies.
Alisha Colón, PhD
Cell Culture Specialist
Dr. Colón completed her PhD in Biomedical Science in 2019 from the University of Central Florida where she researched cutting-edge biomedical engineering. She became highly proficient in aseptic cell culture, immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, and patch-clamp electrophysiology while studying the molecular physiology of neuromuscular junctions and related diseases (ALS, SMA, etc.). During the end of her graduate studies she also taught Biology at Valencia College in Orlando, FL. Her specialty training includes iPSC culture and differentiation, primary culture, specialty equipment repair, and inventory management. Her publications to Nature Scientific Reports and contribution to grants for the Department of Defense continue to push forward current research efforts.
Heidi Brand, BS
Laboratory Operations Coordinator
Heidi received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Molecular Biology in 1999 from Florida Institute of Technology and joined AGL shortly thereafter. She is responsible for management of process/product development at AGL, coordination of genomics projects (including cytogenetics and F.I.S.H. studies) with AGL clients and study sponsors, and commercial production of Hybloc™ DNA. She is also responsible for quality assurance at AGL, including client-mandated laboratory audits for compliance with FDA Good Laboratory Practice standards.
Bryan K Hall, MS, CG(ASCP)CM
Technical Director
Bryan received his Master of Science degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from the Florida Institute of Technology, performing chromosomal analysis of tissue culture lines used in mutagenicity assays. He has 30 years of experience in cytogenetic analysis and chromosome identification in multiple species including human, mouse, rat, monkey, and others. Bryan has held academic positions at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Michigan’s Department of Pediatric Genetics, and gained clinical cytogenetic experience at TriCore Reference Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM, where he was responsible for technical and regulatory aspects of the cytogenetics lab. In addition to chromosome identification, Bryan is proficient in chromosome aberration analysis, mutagenicity analysis, and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) including probe production. He has worked for many years on tissue culture samples of human clinical tissues, established cell lines, somatic cell hybrids, and laboratory mice. His molecular biology techniques include nucleic acid purification, PCR, large-insert clone propagation and manipulation, and gene mapping. Bryan has worked at AGL for 8 years, and in his current position as Technical Director, he is the Study Director on Cell Line Characterization Studies.
John C Hozier, PhD, DABMG, FACMG
President, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Hozier did his graduate work on chromosome replication at the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University and postgraduate work on the molecular organization of chromosomes at the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen, Germany. He has held faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, the Florida Institute of Technology, Florida State University (at the Institute of Molecular Biophysics) and the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He founded AGL in 1984. His research interests have focused on understanding chromosomal aberrations and chromosomal molecular organization. His clinical interests include high-resolution karyotyping and fluorescence in situ hybridization using DNA probes, now commonly used in clinical work to define specific chromosome rearrangements in cancer and developmental abnormalities. He is a fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and is certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics in clinical cytogenetics. He has served as clinical lab director for a number of university and commercial organizations.