Tracy Naputi, B.S.

In 2008 Tracy Naputi received a flyer that changed her life. As a mother of five in San Diego, Naputi felt ready for a career. She loved science in school, but without a college degree, she didn’t know how to find a job in a scientific field. Then came the flyer in her mailbox advertising a certificate program that could land her a job in the biotech industry after just a few semesters of coursework. The program was offered by San Diego Miramar College, which was right down the street. She registered immediately.

Today, Naputi has more than a decade of experience in biotech. She’s an expert in developing and optimizing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for medical diagnostic tests.

In recent years, she has also returned to school with the goal of earning her bachelor’s in science and, ultimately, a master’s degree. That certificate program was really when everything opened up for me, she says.

How did the Applied Biotechnology Certificate program help launch your career?

The program gives students the skills they need to contribute to the biotech industry. It was exciting to learn about how all of the chemistry we studied in class was relevant to actual jobs. I especially loved learning about chemical reactions that take place in the body on a cellular level.

I then completed Biocom’s EDGE Biomass Production Certificate program at MiraCosta College, which also helped prepare me for biotech. I considered getting an associate’s degree after finishing the program. But my mentor encouraged me to interview for jobs, if only for practice. My second “practice” interview resulted in a job offer from Inova Diagnostics, and I took it!

What did you do in your first role at Inova?

I worked as a lab assistant at Inova, now Werfen, supporting the chemists working in the ELISA department. We were manufacturing diagnostic test kits for autoimmune diseases.

As I gained experience, I began making the reagents for the kits and even determining the best concentration for each reagent. I realized that our protocol for mixing one of the reagents involved several unnecessary steps. So I developed a more streamlined protocol that saved my company about $80,000 per year, just in labor costs. 

As the department grew and they hired more lab assistants, I became the leader of our lab assistant group.

What other roles have you held in biotech?

I used my skills in ELISA to become a quality control analyst. In my last position at Werfen, for example, I was in charge of validating new machines, like the ELISA plate readers and washers. We were still making diagnostic kits for autoimmune diseases. These diseases are among the hardest to diagnose in health care. So the kits don’t always lead to a specific diagnosis. But they give doctors the tools to screen for possibilities, and then know where to look further.

In my next role as a research associate, I developed single antibodies to sell to researchers for use in creating their own autoimmune disease diagnostic kits.

Why did you decide to go back to school for your associate’s degree and now bachelor’s?

I didn’t intend to go back to school because I was already moving up so much in my field. But eventually, I decided that I wanted to get a master’s so that I could earn a better living and apply for more senior positions, including the possibility of teaching at the community college where I started this journey. I began by taking classes toward my associate’s degree while I was still working. And then my mentor found a bachelor’s degree program at California State University, Sacramento, which allowed me to count some of my professional work toward my degree. I’m now in my senior year. At the same time, I’ve maintained my connection to MiraCosta College. Through this alma mater, I’m working as an NSF ExLENT intern in the validation department at Wacker Biotech, which has a close relationship with our local community colleges.

I understand that you are also creating a teaching module for your college research project. What inspired you to develop this module?

I moved to the US from Micronesia as a sixth grader. Back home, we weren’t taught science. I wondered whether that had changed. Through my research, I learned that students in Micronesia still don’t take science classes, and it’s because teachers aren’t trained in the sciences. So I developed a mock training module for K–12 teachers that spans many scientific disciplines, from chemistry to biology.

Once you do get that master’s degree, what’s your dream job?

I would like to work in regulatory affairs and quality assurance, and be the liaison to other departments like product development and manufacturing. There’s sometimes a disconnect between those teams, and I could be the bridge.

I’ve adopted the lifelong learner mindset. That is so important in any STEM field because science is evolving every day. I’ve had to learn to not be afraid of failure every time I pursue a new role or new degree. If you look at mistakes as learning opportunities, you're not going to be afraid to make that mistake.

This profile has been edited for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in this interview are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of their employer or the American Chemical Society.