• Title Professor
    Director, Biochemistry & Cell Biology Graduate Program
  • Education BA: Microbiology. Miami University (Ohio)
    PhD: University of California, San Diego
    Postdoctoral training: University of California, Berkeley
  • Office K123C
  • Area of Interest Mitosis, transcription, chromatin structure

Each time a cell divides the correct number of chromosomes must be segregated to each daughter cell. Failures in chromosome segregation lead to an incorrect chromosome content (aneuploidy), which is highly correlated with cancer and is a leading cause of birth defects and developmental diseases in humans. Accurate chromosome segregation requires a dramatic transformation of the genome, which impacts all aspects of chromatin structure and RNA metabolism.

The long-term goal of my laboratory is to understand proteins that link RNA to DNA and chromokinesins contribute to chromatin structure and DNA repair in interphase and accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis. We are currently focused on: 1) how transcription is silenced during mitosis and restarted following mitosis, 2) how non-coding RNAs are removed from chromatin during mitosis, 3) how the chromokinesin Kif4a contributes to chromosome structure and DNA repair.

We are a multidisciplinary lab that uses cell biology, biochemistry, and genomic approaches coupled with CRISPR genome engineering. Our primary experimental systems is human cell culture.

In addition to research, I teach many classes for graduate students and have initiated a computational biology module within the FiBS classes. I am also the director of the Biochemistry and Cell Biology graduate program.

 

 

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