Gian Paolo Sepulveda

I graduated with a BA in Molecular Biology from Colgate University in Upstate NY. During my time there, I worked under the supervision of Dr. Krista Ingram to study the effects of diurnal preference and circadian rhythm on exercise. During my final year, I worked at the National Cancer Institute in the lab of Dr. Terry Fry where I looked at the proximal signaling pathway of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells in comparison to endogenous T cell receptor signaling.

I then moved on to Boston University and joined the lab of Dr. Alla Grishok in the Biochemistry Department as a graduate student in the Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics (GPGG). My research primarily focuses on c-Myc regulation and c-Myc driven transcription. As a transcription factor that regulates multiple essential pathways in the cell, c-Myc is tightly regulated at all steps of its generation. Using cell culture and purified recombinant protein cleavage assays, I focus mainly on the post-translational modifications of c-Myc, particularly on a putative cleavage step that may be targeted to slow tumor progression. I plan on establishing Auxin Inducible Degron tagged c-Myc cell lines to further investigate the role of this regulatory step in c-Myc driven transcription.

I am grateful to be part of a vibrant community of researchers in BUSM. As a PhD student, I want to learn as much as I can about how science is conducted and about how to think in ways that can push a respective field forward. After my PhD, I want to use these skills to transition into science communication.