Pickens holds more than 10 years of scientific leadership experience as a subject matter expert in infectious diseases and preclinical drug development focused on the advancement of cutting-edge vaccine and therapeutic medical countermeasures in the nonclinical and clinical setting. Before joining Southern Research in 2019 and again in 2022, she earned a Ph.D. in Infectious Diseases from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia in 2011 under the mentorship of S. Mark Tompkins and later completed postdoctoral fellowships (2012-2017) within the laboratory of James E. Crowe, Jr at the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center and Ralph A. Tripp at the University Georgia. Her career has focused on managing preclinical research programs aimed at identifying and assessing the efficacy of novel antiviral therapeutics against potentially lethal respiratory viruses (i.e. respiratory syncytial virus, metapneumoviruses, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza), as well as managing more than 40 clinical trials within the Lymphoma and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Division at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, working alongside renowned physician leaders Dr. Ian W. Flinn and Dr. Carlos Bachier. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her work focused predominately on developing the nonclinical commercial and government A/BSL-3 SAR-CoV-2 program at Southern Research before joining the Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA) in 2021 as a nonclinical and infectious disease SME/Biologist. She returned to Southern Research in 2022 as Associate Director of Client Services; and in her new role, she works alongside commercial and government clients providing scientific and operational guidance through the lifecycle of their pre-IND pipelines. Her research has resulted in eight highly-cited publications and invitations to present at national and international conferences.

Pickens’ Key Accomplishments:
• Identified low pathogenic avian influenza strains that exhibited enhanced pandemic potential
• In vitro and in vivo characterized antiviral therapeutics against influenza, RSV, orthopoxvirus, SARS-CoV-2, HIV, and hMPV
• Helped develop the hamster and NHP animal models for SARS-CoV-2

Dr. Mann began working at Southern Research in 2003 and has served as the study pathologist for numerous toxicology, cancer therapeutic, and infectious diseases studies. Sponsors of these studies have included government agencies and commercial companies. Dr. Mann became the Associate Director of Pathology in 2020 and serves as the Chairperson of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).  She received a bachelor’s degree in biology/technical agriculture (pre-vet) from Eastern Kentucky University and a doctorate in veterinary medicine (DVM) from the University of Missouri. She completed two fellowships at Johns Hopkins University, one in comparative medicine and the other in radiation oncology. Dr. Mann is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Medicine (DACVP).  

Joseph C. Randall, Ph.D., is the Director of Toxicology. Dr. Randall brings more than 20 years of drug development experience in the design, conduction and reporting of regulated toxicology studies in support of IND and NDA applications for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. His doctoral and postdoctoral research in neurotoxicology was conductedat the University of Michigan. He and has worked at multiple small and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies in Boston and the San Francisco area.

His expertise includes lead selection, lead optimization, in-vitro and in-vivo toxicology studies, safety pharmacology, genetictoxicology, and carcinogenicity assessment in rodents. Dr. Randall has detailed knowledge of FDA, ICH, and OECDguidance’s that pertain to the design and conduct of general and specialized toxicology studies. His areas of therapeutic expertise include the safety assessment of antivirals and drugs to treat neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and ocularindications. He has more than 10 years of project team experience and has managed many outsourced bioanalytical, pharmacokinetic, and GLP toxicology studies in support of Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. He has also co-authored 5 successful NDAs and 10 INDs using the common technical document format for regulatory submissions.

Lanier joined Southern Research in 2017 as the first STEM Education Outreach Director. She directs a statewide program that aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and engineering, in addition to training teachers involved in these fields. In addition to her role at Southern Research, Lanier represents Alabama’s 6th congressional district on the Mathematics Course of Study Committee and Alabama’s 7th congressional district on the Career Technical Education Course of Study Committee. She also serves on the Governor’s Advisory Council for Excellence in STEM. Lanier received her doctorate in chemistry from Georgia Tech, where she worked in the laboratory as part of the NASA Center for the Origin of Life. Lanier received the Georgia Tech Presidential Fellowship, an award allocated to the top 5% of each doctoral class for all four years of her doctoral studies. She was also a molecular biophysics and biotechnology fellow for three years. She was included in Georgia Southern University’s Top 40 under 40 in 2018 and Georgia Tech’s 40 Under 40 class in 2020.

Ray joined Southern Research more than 20 years ago as a histologist and has been promoted to new levels of responsibility as she continued to gain new education and skills. She has received a number of certifications in subject matter ranging from laboratory management to pathology informatics, and she has been recognized on many occasions by peers for her contribution to the field of histotechnology. She is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Alabama. In 2020, she was a member of Southern Research’s inaugural class of the SOAR Leadership Development Program.

Rasmussen joined Southern Research in 2004 and is the supervisor of the High-Throughput Screening Center. Her background in laboratory automation and infectious disease research has been instrumental in developing this capability at Southern Research. Her many experiences in research include pivotal work in recent years to find treatments for COVID-19. She has bachelor’s degrees in both chemistry and biology from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Hood College. Rasmussen is a member of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening, and she chairs the Special Interest Group on Labware Leachables.

Matt Dover is the Manager of Infrastructure and System Administration at Southern Research. He has almost two decades of experience in the IT field, with eight of those years at Southern Research. Matt is responsible for managing many of SR’s IT systems, including servers, storage, authentication, and application virtualization. He is also the technical lead for Southern Research’s Office 365 deployment and will be a leading contributor as the company continues to move into the cloud computing space. Matt is a Microsoft certified professional with MCP, MCDST, MCSA, MCSE, and MCAA certifications. When he’s not working, he enjoys running, working out, and spending time with his kids.

Nurre is responsible for implementing best practices for compliance with accounting standards and financial regulations governing federal contractors and non-profit organizations. She is acting controller with full finance and accounting responsibilities. She supports operating divisions with financial analyses, budgeting, and strategic planning. She has more 35 years of experience in public corporate accounting and finance with the majority of her career focused in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to joining Southern Research, Nurre served as controller for Evonik Corp.’s Birmingham Laboratories business. Nurre received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Xavier University in Cincinnati and a master’s in business administration from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. She is also a licensed certified public accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and National Contracts Management Association.

Syed serves as chemical process engineer at the National Carbon Capture center, a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored facility. The National Carbon Capture center is an internationally known neutral test facility that evaluates carbon capture technologies from third-party developers, such as research organizations, universities, and engineering firms from around the world. As an engineer, Syed is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the gas analysis laboratory located in Wilsonville, AL. Syed began his career with Southern Research in 2021, and prior to joining the team, he worked as a process engineer for four years in the design, testing and development of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) reactors and other innovative emissions controls technologies for power-generating and manufacturing plants. Syed holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Mississippi State University, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.