Gibco Cell Culture Heroes

Heather Beasley

Postdoctoral Scholar
Vanderbilt University

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Heather K. Beasley is a postdoctoral research scholar at Vanderbilt University in the laboratory of Dr. Antentor Hinton Jr. (AJ), where she studies a novel mitochondrial protein, SLC25A46, in triple-negative breast cancer. Dr. Beasley earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Meharry Medical College with an emphasis in Biochemistry and Cancer Biology after completing a Master of Science degree from Alabama A&M and a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University. Dr. Beasley’s research employs various imaging techniques, including 3D microscopic methods, to investigate disease progression in vitro modeling and patient-derived xenograft models. Thus far in her postdoctoral training, Dr. Beasley has earned several awards and fellowships. She is the recipient of the UNCF and Bristol Myers Squibb, E.E. Just Postgraduate Fellowship in Life Sciences, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program award. These two postdoctoral fellowships will fund her research for the next three years. Furthermore, Dr. Beasley champions diversity in STEM. Complementing her strong scientific publication record, she has seven peer-reviewed publications that address mentorship and diversity, equity, and inclusion of underrepresented minorities in STEM education and research. Additionally, Dr. Beasley strongly believes in advocacy for equitable outcomes for all cancer patients. Finally, her research reflects her passion for translational research, as she is highly sought after as a scientific communicator, panelist, podcaster, and social media influencer.

Leonardo Ferriera

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Medical University of South Carolina

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Cell-based gene therapies offer unprecedented promise for medicine. One day, it may be possible to cure degenerative diseases that consist of the loss of one or several specialized cell functions, as well as to decelerate the deterioration our bodies experience during aging. However, several hurdles must be surpassed in order to establish cell transplantation therapies, a major one being rejection by the recipient's immune system. This challenge is particularly prominent for autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, where the immune system mediates the destruction of self-tissues. During my PhD, in the laboratories of Jack Strominger and Chad Cowan (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology) at Harvard University, I worked on transcriptional regulation in human pregnancy, a longstanding enigma in immunology and a seldom studied model of immune tolerance. In addition, I was the first to show successful genome editing in primary human T cells and hematopoietic stem cells using CRISPR/ Cas9 and was part of a team creating universally compatible human pluripotent stem cells. As a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratories of Qizhi Tang (Department of Surgery) and Jeff Bluestone (Diabetes Center) at the University of California San Francisco, I am working on next generation regulatory T cell therapies for type 1 diabetes and organ transplant rejection. I envision that we will be able to use our capacity to engineer the human genome with high precision and efficiency to manipulate our immune system, enabling us to treat several devastating illnesses now labeled as incurable. I am highly committed to make that vision become a reality.

Natalia Herreira

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

My name is Natalia Guadalupe Herrera and I obtained a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a minor in Bioinformatics from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) in 2015. It was during my undergraduate studies that I discovered my interest for scientific research. Through the STEM diversity programs at UCSC I obtained the support I needed to pursue undergraduate research. I performed research in the laboratory of Dr. Victoria Auerbuch Stone, where I investigated mechanisms of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis virulence. After graduating, I spent a year in the lab of Dr. Auerbuch Stone to finalize my project and submit my first co-first author publication. In Fall of 2016, I began graduate school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where I joined the lab of Dr. Steven C. Almo in the department of Biochemistry. The Almo lab focuses on a variety of biologically relevant questions including projects focused on characterizing the interactions and networks of extracellular proteins (i.e. secreted and cell surface proteins) through the use of high throughput platforms. My project stems from this work and focuses on characterizing a novel interaction discovered in our lab. In addition, the Almo lab focuses on developing biologics to modulate CD8+ T cell activity in an antigen specific manner. Another one of my projects focuses on developing these biologics and characterizing the effects of these biologics on T cell activation.

Rukia Henry

Rutgers University

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Rukia Henry is a Pharmacology and Cancer Biology PhD Candidate at Rutgers University, where she works and conducts research at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. She currently investigates the dynamics of DNA repair in cancer, with a focus on the DNA damage response. Specifically, her work in the laboratory of Dr. Shridar Ganesan is modeled after the established framework that attempts to delineate key factors involved in the PARP-dependent DNA repair pathway. Her work is currently aimed at identifying actionable and targetable key players that help to regulate the DNA damage response. Of importance to her study are those proteins that interact with PARP and chromatin remodeling enzymes, such as TRIM33, and others that help to facilitate efficient DNA repair. Although Rukia's current PhD focus is related to cancer biology and DNA repair, she earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in Biology from Howard University in 2018, where she graduated with honors. During her undergraduate tenure, she conducted research related to mapping the anatomic locations of HIV infection in the pediatric brain, working in a lab that utilized infant rhesus macaques' primate brains as the model organism. Further, she has conducted undergraduate research focused on understanding the pathogenesis of herpes viral infection in the central nervous system. Rukia is passionate about diversity in STEM, and is an advocate for increasing the representation of minorities in the field. She has, and continues to share personal and professional aspects of her journey in the pursuit of her doctoral degree, through varying mediums such as podcasts, professional panels and her personal website.

Rachana Vaidya

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

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Rachana Vaidya is currently a PhD Candidate in Bioengineering and Biotechnology program at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA and has completed her Master’s in Biotechnology from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Her investigation focuses on how hyperglycemia and advance glycation end products(AGEs), such as pentosidine and CML alter bone cell behavior, to understand deterioration of bone quality and increased bone fragility in Type 2 diabetic patients. She will be graduating in summer 2021 and wants to continue working in diabetes/aging research. She is curious to know more and study about life not seen by the unaided human eye. Her research interest lies in, but not limited to, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, and gene expression studies in humans and other hosts. She loves exploring new areas of research and development to gather knowledge. Her research is driven by the goal to make a positive difference in the world. In her free time she enjoys doodling, painting, reading sci-fi novels, and writing short stories and poems.