Systems Biology Fellowship Awards
Each year, three outstanding postdoctoral trainees at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), who are engaged in research using multidisciplinary approaches to biology, are appointed as Systems Biology Fellows. Each appointee is awarded a stipend to be applied to his or her career development, and the award may be renewed annually for up to two additional years. These funds may be used for professional references, professional dues, and conference attendance. In addition, each Systems Biology Fellow must attend and participate in the Systems Biology Fellowship postdoctoral seminar series and present his or her work at PNNL's annual Northwest Symposium for Systems Biology.
Announcing the winners!
2005 Winners | 2004
Sharon Hook
Sharon Hook
Irv Schultz, Mentor
Sharon Hook is measuring gene expression in aquatic organisms exposed to environmental contaminants to (1) understand the mechanism of toxic action and (2) identify biomarkers of exposure and effects. Her recent work has focused on the use of cDNA microarrays to monitor changes in gene expression in rainbow trout exposed to a variety of toxicants with diverse modes of action. Along with her colleagues, she has demonstrated that changes in gene expression are specific to the contaminant studied and that these gene expression profiles change with dose and time. Her work group has also demonstrated that gene expression profiles can be used both to identify components of a complex chemical mixture and to identify potential mechanisms of non-additive toxicity. She is currently involved in efforts to use gene expression data to aid computational models of the brain-pituitary-gonadal-liver axis in rainbow trout exposed to xenoestrogens. Trout are being used as a model organism to understand better the molecular and biochemical bases for the xenoestrogen-induced decrease in male fertility.
She began working at PNNL in April, 2004.
Thomas Prince
Thomas Prince
Brian Thrall, Mentor
Tom Prince is working with the Mechanisms of Regulated Ligand Shedding team to understand the processes that induce protein shedding and the resulting signals. This team is using the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) as a model system. EGFR binds several different shed ligands, making it a key component of a signaling network that is required for cellular growth, differentiation, and survival. Researchers at PNNL are determining the numerous protein components that associate with EGFR under different cellular conditions. This, in turn, should provide insight into how variances in cellular context allow for the different outcomes of EGFR signaling.
Dr. Prince received his Ph.D. in 2005 from Oklahoma State University.
He began working at PNNL in October of 2005.
Ting Wang
Ting Wang
Uljana Mayer-Cumblidge and Tom Squier, Mentors
Ting Wang is designing and developing protein tags for new affinity reagents as well as applying these probes to protein structural characterization, protein-protein interaction, and cellular imaging studies.
Dr. Wang received her Ph.D. in May 2005 from the Chemistry Department at the University of Pennsylvania.
She began working at PNNL in July of 2005.