Control of Gene Expression

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Associate Professor, Section of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego

EDUCATION:
Amy Pasquinelli received her PhD in Biomolecular Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow in the Genetics Department at Harvard Medical School.

AWARDS & HONORS:
She has been named a Keck Distinguished Young Scholar in Medical Research, a Searle Scholar, a V Foundation for Cancer Research Scholar, an Emerald Foundation Scholar and a Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
The Pasquinelli lab studies the new class of regulatory RNA genes, called microRNAs (miRNAs). Hundreds of different miRNA genes are encoded by animal genomes, and specific miRNAs have been shown to play key roles in controlling development, stem cell fates and neuronal differentiation. The significance of miRNAs in normal development and cellular function is underscored by mounting evidence that mis-regulation of specific miRNA pathways is associated with complicated health afflictions, including cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders. The first discovered human miRNA, let-7, is mis-regulated in multiple cancers and is considered to have a tumor suppressor function by regulating genes that control cell proliferation.