Genetics Graduate Program
Faculty Advisor: Ahna Skop
Resume
Cytokinesis is an important and fundamental process in the development of all organisms. The factors that establish the cleavage furrow have remained mysterious and have eluded many for over 130 years. The goal of my research project is to identify factors involved in cleavage furrow formation by combining proteomics, bioinformatics, RNAi assays and high-resolution in vivo microscopy techniques. This multi-pronged approach should give a global view of the factors that function during specific phases of the cell cycle and an insight into the role that particular proteins play during this time.
Currently, my research focuses on identifying proteins involved in metaphase and metaphase-anaphase staged spindles by mass spectrometry analysis. I intend to use reverse genetic techniques to explore the roles of homologs of these proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans.