Meet the new Genetics Graduate Student Association Officers

The Genetics Graduate Student Association would like to introduce its new officers for the 2009-2010 school year.  Kory Douglas will be serving as President.  He is a third year student working under Dr. Paul Samollow in the VIBS Department focusing on elucidating the evolution of imprinting mechanisms in mammals using the South American gray, short-tailed opossum as a model organism.  Lauren Schilling, the Vice President, is a third year student in Dr. Weston Porter’s Lab in the VIBS Department.  Her research focuses on exploring the role Singleminded-2 (Sim2; a member of the bHLH-PAS family of proteins involved in transcription regulation) has in cell cycle regulation and DNA damage response in mammary epithelial tumor cells.  She is also a PEER Fellow--an NSF funded program to bring graduate students in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into 6-9th grade classrooms to build excitement for science in young students.  Your Treasurer, Stephen Caster, is a second year student working in Dr. Bell-Peterson’s Lab in the Biology Department.  His research interests involve circadian clocks in Neurospora crassa.  Rachel Wright, Secretary, is a second year student working in Dr. Don Hong‘s lab.  She is studying the genetic basis and pathogenesis of  human inherited retinal degeration.  Josie Hilley, a second year student, will be the representative to the Graduate Student Council with help from alternates Robbie Schultz and Mindy Altmyer.  Josie is interested in researching sorghum genetics with the goal of improving sorghum for use as a biofuel under Dr. John Mullet.  Robbie works in Dr. Tina Gumienny’s lab using C. elegans as a model to study the role of TGF beta family members in cell signaling in the extracellular matrix, and Mindy works in Dr. Vlad Panin’s lab researching the sialylation pathway in Drosophila.  Finally, Rachel Jordan will be coordinating recruiting and is a member of Dr. Mary Bryk’s lab working on rDNA gene silencing and expression during the cell cycle in yeast.  These are the new GGSA officers for the 2009-2010 academic year, and we are looking forward to serving the GGSA to the best of their abilities.  Pictured (from left to right) Stephen Caster, Mindy Altmyer, Robbie Schultz, Rachel Jordan, Rachel Wright, Josie Hilley, Lauren Schilling, and Kory Douglas.