Katelyn Donahue

Katelyn Donahue

Graduate Student

Biography

I graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2016 with a B.S. in Biology. During my undergraduate studies, I completed my honors thesis on the identification of a novel local entomological parasite. I then worked from 2016 to 2018 as a research assistant at Dartmouth College where I studied the role of cell cycle regulation and DNA damage response inhibition in various cancer models under the mentorship of Dr. Alan Eastman. I joined the Cancer Biology program here at UMich in the fall of 2018 and am now pursuing my PhD in Dr. Marina Pasca di Magliano’s lab where we study the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. In my free time I love cooking, doing yoga, and binge-watching TV shows.

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding how oncogenic KRAS-dependent signaling impacts intercellular crosstalk between tumor cells, immune cells, and fibroblasts in the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. Specifically, I am interested in the regulation and role of interleukin-33 throughout different stages of pancreatic tumorigenesis.

Techniques Used

Single Cell RNA Sequencing, Bioinformatics, Mouse Modeling, Cell Culture

Abstracts

Title: Using single-cell RNA sequencing to assess the impact of pancreatic oncogenic Kras on macrophage gene expression in vitro
Authors: Katelyn Donahue, Yaqing Zhang, Veerin Sirihorachai, Stephanie The, Arvind Rao and Marina Pasca di Magliano
Meeting: AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care; September 6-9, 2019; Boston, MA
DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.PANCA19-A10
Link: https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/79/24_Supplement/A10

Awards

2022 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award - F31 Issued by National Institutes of Health (NIH) - National Cancer Institute (NCI). Fellowship number: 1F31CA265085-01A1.
2019-2020 University of Michigan T32 in Cancer Biology; NCI Training Grant T32-CA009676
2016 Commonwealth Honors College Graduate with Distinction, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
2016 Departmental Honors (Biology), University of Massachusetts, Amherst