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Peter M. Vallone (Fed)

Leader, Applied Genetics Group

Peter M. Vallone received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1999.  Afterward, he was awarded an NRC postdoctoral fellowship that brought him to the Biotechnology Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  Over the last 22 years at NIST, Dr. Vallone has developed multiplex PCR assays for the detection of genetic variation, developed methods for the rapid amplification of STR loci, and has been involved in the characterization of nucleic acid-based reference materials. 

As the leader of the Applied Genetics Group at NIST since 2013, Dr. Vallone works with a team of researchers producing DNA reference materials, assessing emerging techniques such as next-generation sequencing and digital PCR.  The group efforts provide research and training that supports the forensic DNA community.  Dr. Vallone has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of DNA thermodynamics and human identity testing.

Awards

2021 United States of America Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Federal Service for the rapid development of a SARS-CoV-2 Research Grade Test Material, RGTM 10169, to assess RNA-based diagnostic tests and benchmark SARS-CoV-2 test control materials.

2021 JUDSON C. FRENCH AWARD: for development and characterization of a next-generation forensic DNA Standard Reference Material using a diverse suite of molecular techniques. 

2020 United States of America Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Federal Service for developing a suite of human genome metrology tools via a NIST-led consortium to make it possible to decipher life's code with unprecedented rigor.

2020 NIST -  MML Accolade Award (For the rapid development of nucleic acid-based measurement methods and standards, including RGTM 10169: SARS-CoV-2 Synthetic RNA Fragments, to support detection and characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a cross-division and -OU multidisciplinary, teamwork effort.)

2014  United States of America Department of Commerce Silver Medal Award for Meritorious Achievement in the Federal Service (For the development of rapid forensic DNA typing techniques that enable state-of-the-art human identity testing and DNA biometrics.)

2009 International Society of Forensic Genetics, Best Poster Prize Award

2008  United States of America Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Federal Service

1999 NRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship National Institute of Standards and Technology

Publications

STRSeq: FAQ for submitting

Author(s)
Lisa Borsuk, Peter Vallone, Katherine Gettings
The STR sequencing project was developed due to the necessity of publicly sharing sequencing information about Short Tandem Repeats (STR) associated with human

Patents (2018-Present)

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DATA ANALYSIS IN QUANTITATIVE PCR MEASUREMENTS

NIST Inventors
Anthony J. Kearsley , Paul Patrone , Erica Romsos and Peter M. Vallone
patent description Quantitative polymerase chain-reaction (qPCR) measurements are a mainstay diagnostic tool for early disease detection. This technique works by iterating or “cycling” a reaction that doubles the amount of a target DNA segment in a sample. With each cycle of PCR, a new copy of DNA
Created May 31, 2018, Updated December 8, 2022