Jenn
Jenn
Where did you grow up?
I am a true Seattleite, born and raised here. I did move to California for middle school, high school and college.
Where did you go to school, what was your major and what did you like about your school?
I chose to go to Occidental College because I wanted to go to a small school (Oxy has under 2000 students), which is part of the larger community. It’s known for having a diverse student body and also it offers a strong undergraduate science research program. I loved my time there. I was a Biochemistry major and left with 3 years of research experience. (Also, Barack Obama went there for 2 years!)
What did you do after you graduated?
After college, I worked as a technician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where I worked on autoimmune diseases for 2 years(1-7).
Why and where did you go to grad school?
I am currently a Ph.D. student in the MCB program at the University of Washington. I decided to go to grad school because I really love science and I wanted to become a professor at the college level.
What are you doing at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute? Do you like Seattle Biomedical Research Institute?
I am doing my thesis research in Dr. David Sherman’s lab. My project is to understand why it takes so long to treat active tuberculosis and find out which genes are involved. Seattle Biomedical Research Institute is a great place to work because everyone is very supportive of scientists and their research. There is always a face to go to and it has a strong community spirit. Also, the labs have nice windows.
What do you do when you are not in the lab?
When I am not here, I like to read fiction, bind books watch movies and go to rock shows.
From where you are now, what advise would you give incoming BioQuest students?
Always pursue opportunities in a variety of things, not just science. Be flexible to change your life plan.
Publications:
- Human leukocyte antigen class II alleles in Caucasian women with primary biliary cirrhosis.
- HLA allelic variants encoding DR11 in diffuse and limited systemic sclerosis in Caucasian women.
- Male microchimerism in women with systemic sclerosis and healthy women who have never given birth to a son.
- Liver biopsies from human females contain male hepatocytes in the absence of transplantation.
- CD8+ T cells maintain tolerance to myelin basic protein by 'epitope theft'.
- CD8+ T cells maintain tolerance to myelin basic protein by 'epitope theft'.
- Male DNA in female donor apheresis and CD34-enriched products.
