Matthew Plassmeyer, phd
Technical Director & Laboratory Manager
Matthew Plassmeyer, PhD, graduated from George Mason University in 1998. He obtained his graduate training in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania examining viral neuropathogenesis, viral pseudotype systems and reverse genetics, 2005. Following graduate school, he performed his doctoral training at the NIH with Dr. Louis Miller studying the mechanisms of malaria parasite invasion of erythrocytes. In 2006, under Dr. Miller, he was responsible for the small-scale production and investigation of new malaria antigen vaccine candidates.
In 2010 he joined Polybatics, a small startup company in New Zealand that developed functional bioengineered polymer beads, as the project manager. Then in 2012 he joined O&O Alpan and Amerimmune where he managed the CAP and CLIA accredited Flow Cytometry Laboratory. In 2016 he became the Technical Director for the Flow Cytometry Laboratory where he developed and implemented multiple novel fit-for-purpose flow cytometry-based clinical laboratory developed tests (LDTs) and diagnostic immunology tests for clinical trials.
Soren Sonder, Phd
senior scientist
Soren Sonders, PhD., obtained his PhD in 2006 from University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he studied NF-κB signaling. He continued his career as a postdoctoral researcher at NIH studying IL-17 signaling and at Johns Hopkins studying gene expression in CD4 memory cells.
Soren joined Amerimmune LLC in 2014. Since then, he has published peer reviewed clinical and technical flow cytometry papers. He is working on CRO projects and clinical projects for Amerimmune LLC using flow cytometry to improve healthcare and well-being for patients with primary immunodeficiencies as well as patients suffering from allergies.
Christina Pettibone
Laboratory Technologist
Christina Pettibone completed her Bachelor of Science degree in biology at George Mason University in 2006. She started her career in bioproduction doing tissue culture for ATCC. She later moved on to the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH where she performed genomic sequencing on cancer patients with late stage malignant melanoma to search for novel mutations that could aid in more targeted therapies.
In 2008, Christina joined the R&D department of Qiagen, where she supported assay and instrument development activities related to HPV testing. There she developed a strong background and skill set in immunoassays and assay development. Christina joined Amerimmune in 2020 as a laboratory technologist to run clinical assays, as well as support ongoing research projects.
Kimberly Romito
Kimberly Romito received her degree in Medical Technology from the University of Delaware in 2008. After graduating, Kimberly worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the Cellular Immunology department. She worked on assays consisting of lymphocyte proliferation, natural killer cell activity, as well as immunophenotyping. These studies were relevant in the diagnosis of immunodeficiency disorders, including patients receiving bone marrow transplants.
In 2011 she continued her career at the NIH in the Department of Laboratory Medicine. Here she worked in the Immunology clinical laboratory, performing and developing flow cytometry assays for patients with primary immunodeficiencies.
Kimberly recently joined Amerimmune in November 2021.