South Campus Faculty and Staff
South Campus Research Building 2, 4th Floor
Room 2SCR4.2120
713-563-3345
Karen Clise-Dwyer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Stem Cell Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Department
Director, South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core Facility
Co-Director, Flow Cytometry & Cellular Imaging Facility
kcdwyer@mdanderson.org
713-563-3322
Karen Clise-Dwyer, Ph.D. directs all operations at the South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core Laboratory. Clise-Dwyer has twenty years experience with cytometry instrumentation and a wide array of applications, with particular interests in high-content multiparametric single cell analysis and sorting. Clise-Dwyer leads all planning, new instrumentation selection, personnel decisions, grant proposals and funding requests, resource use tracking, staff and client education, and determines SCFC budget allocations. The South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core Laboratory has grown rapidly while still maintaining very high (>92%) user satisfaction. Clise-Dwyer is a member of the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) and is a former president of the regional cytometry user's group, FlowTex, a major source for cytometry education in the Texas Medical Center and beyond. Clise-Dwyer is always available to meet with core lab users and PIs upon request; Clise-Dwyer collaborates with and provides advice to many researchers throughout the MD Anderson community.
Karen Ramirez, B.S.
Laboratory Manager
kmramirez@mdanderson.org
713-563-3344
Ramirez has been involved in Flow Cytometry since 1983. She has worked in clinical research labs and in product development and technical support in the flow cytometry industry. At MD Anderson, Ramirez has worked in the South Campus Flow Cytometry Core since 1992. Since that time, the core has grown significantly in terms of instrumentation, technical capabilities, and number of users served. Ramirez now manages the SCFC. She is responsible for operation of all instruments, management of consumables, verifying billing, training new staff and clients. She participates in staff selection and training, staff management activities, SOP development and other projects for the SCFC. Ramirez has been involved in teaching Flow Cytometry concepts and techniques to numerous undergraduates, summer students, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists. She is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the South Campus Flow Cytometry Core.
David Dwyer, B.S., SCYM(ASCP)CM
Coordinator, Flow Cytometry Lab
ddwyer@mdanderson.org
713-563-3345
Dwyer obtained his B.S. in biological sciences from the University of New Hampshire. After several years doing protein mutagenesis and purification, Dwyer has worked in immunology labs since 2002. His research has focused on CTL responses to melanoma, and investigation of the role of T-regulatory cells in the pathogenesis of cancer. In that capacity, he developed significant skills in flow cytometry experimental methods and data analysis. Since joining the core staff, he has expanded his skills and is now a cell sorting specialist. Dwyer joined the Core staff in March 2013.
Veena Papanna, M.S., SCYM(ASCP)CM
Senior Flow Cytometry Specialist
vpapanna@mdanderson.org
713-563-3345
Papanna received her Master's degree in Microbiology from the University of Bangalore, India in 2002. She received an MBA in hospital management from USU Russia in 2015. She has more than 10 years of biomedical and immunology research experience including over 5 years of experience working in flow cytometry core facilities. Papanna received cytometry certification from ISAC in March 2015 and she has attended many hours of cytometry training provided by BD, ISAC, FloCyte, Leica, and Amnis. She has expertise in handling sorting and analysis flow cytometry assays and Amnis ImageStream experiments. Along with acquisition software she has knowledge of other analysis software including FlowJo, Kaluza, and FCS Express. She has been associated with the Core Facility since 2011.
Sarah Schneider, B.A., SCYM(ASCP)CM
Senior Flow Cytometry Specialist
sschneider1@mdanderson.org
713-563-3345
Schneider earned her Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Clark University, where she was involved in research on the mechanisms of programmed necrosis. She first learned flow cytometry in 2012 at the Texas Heart Institute, where she characterized stem, progenitor, and immune cells in patients enrolled in cardiovascular stem cell therapy trials. Schneider joined the South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core in 2015. Her work in the Core includes daily operation of cell sorters and analyzers, development of user training modules and standard operating procedures, website and billing management, and experimental design and troubleshooting. Schneider works on high-dimensional data analysis, and has knowledge of data analysis software including FlowJo, FCS Express, Kaluza, and Cytobank. Schneider has received training from BD, ISAC, Verity Software House, ExCyte, Amnis, and FCS Express.
Kathryn Cox, B.S., SCYM(ASCP)CM
Coordinator, Flow Cytometry Lab
kequinta@mdanderson.org
713-563-3350
Cox became a part-time member of the South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core staff in June 2011. She has more than 14 years of experience doing cytometry experiments, and more than nine years of experience with mAb conjugations for Dr. Clise-Dwyer’s Stem Cell Transplantation research lab. She is responsible for conjugating antibodies to fluorochromes for SCFC users and helps in the Core when needed. She consults with Core users regarding staining panels and FlowJo-based data analysis. She maintains an inventory of commonly used dyes for flow cytometry and prepares trial-size aliquots and assists users in designing staining panels for their experiments upon request. Cox also provides assistance with cell and analysis on sorters, analyzers, and FlowJo software. She dedicates 50% of her time to the Core Facility.
Alfonso Vivero, B.S.E.T.
Senior Flow Cytometry Specialist
avivero@mdanderson.org
713-563-3345
Vivero joined the South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core staff in 2018. He has over 35 years of experience working on flow cytometry instrumentation. Vivero earned his Bachelor's degree in Electronic Technology from the University of Houston, before working in the biomedical engineering department at St. Luke's-Texas Children's Hospital for 8 years. He then joined Beckton Dickinson, where he worked as a senior field service engineer for 35 years. Vivero has instrument certification on most BD flow cytometers, including the Caliber, Canto II, LSR II, LSRFortessa, LSRFortessa X-20, FACSAria, and FACSAria Fusion. Since joining the SCFC staff, Vivero has developed expertise in cell sorting and helps with troubleshooting instrumentation.
Matthew Ramirez
Student Extern
msramirez1@mdanderson.org
713-563-3345
Born in Houston, Ramirez attends the University of Houston where he studies Biology. He joined the South Campus Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Core in June of 2018 as a Student Extern. He assists in cell sorting. Ramirez is very interested in learning about the instrumentation and basics of flow cytometry.