Biography
Callie is a 5th year PhD student in Genetics and Genomics. During her masters of biomedical science program, she helped develop a tool to control gene expression, which was used to understand the mechanism of a placenta specific growth hormone in promoting fetal growth. She also worked in a lab to identify prognostic biomarkers for oropharyngeal cancer to devise individualized patient treatment plans for oropharyngeal cancer patients. The combination of her research experiences provided a strong foundation to pursue a PhD in Genetics and Genomics. She uses both experimental and computational approaches to understand the genetic mechanisms of non-mendelian inheritance, or genes that are transmitted at higher-than-expected frequencies. The findings from her work will reveal foundational mechanisms of genome evolution and have important implications for genomic regions susceptible to disease mutations. Upon completing her PhD, Callie hopes to combine the skills gained from her academic research and laboratory clinical care, consulting, and education outreach to pursue a career in precision health. She is particularly interested in educating health care professionals on fundamental genetic concepts and the application of genetic diagnostic tools in patient care.
