Christa Heyward

BIOGRAPHY

Christa Heyward is an Associate Faculty Member who works with Faculty Member Steven D Douglas to recommend the scientific literature in their field.

Christa also has responsibility for checking the contents of the following journals to ensure that the highest quality research relevant to their own interests within these publications is comprehensively and systematically evaluated for F1000:

- Nature Reviews Microbiology
- Virology

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Christa Heyward, PhD, is currently a Resource Coordinator and Editorial Assistant at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

EDUCATION:
Christa received her BS from Villanova University, majoring in Biology, quickly going on to complete a Masters in Biology at Duquesne University and then a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Christa's research interests concern the role of the innate immune system in controlling disease. Her previous research investigated the mechanism by which tumorigenic adenoviruses evade lysis by Natural Killer cells by failing to activate ligands for the NKG2D receptor. She is interested in the role NKG2D ligand expression plays autoimmune diseases and cancer.

HONORS/AWARDS:
• President and Provost’s Citation for Exceptional Commitment to Graduate and Professional Student Life 2011 (University of Pennsylvania)
• ASBMB Hill Day Science Advocacy participant 2011
• Penn Women’s Center Leadership Award 2009 (University of Pennsylvania)