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Molecular Biosciences

Name: Adam Norris
Hometown: Brea, California (Orange County)
PhD Mentor: Erik Lundquist
PhD year: 2011
Dissertation title: Watching neurons grow: guidance receptors, signal transduction machinery and cytoskeletal regulators affect growth cone morphology and dynamics in C. elegans
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow in the lab of John Calarco at Harvard University
Current project: I am interested in how the specialized functions of diverse neuronal cells are specified by customized gene regulatory programs. Specifically, I am investigating how cell-subtype specific alternative splicing is regulated in the nervous system. I am using a combination of biochemistry, cell biology, classical genetics and genome wide analyses to identify novel splicing regulators and investigate the role of alternative splicing on nervous system development and function, initially in the nematode C. elegans, and further down the road in mammalian systems as well.

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Sandra A. Sciascia-Zirger is a Scientific Advisor at Pabst Patent Group in Atlanta, Georgia. Sandy received her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in Molecular Genetics (Molecular Biosciences) in 2003 in Dr. Dean Stetler's lab. Her dissertation focused on an immunotherapy for the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) as well as the development of a novel mouse model with SLE-like symptoms. While in graduate school, Sandy also furthered her immunology background by working closely with Dr. Steve Benedict and the members of his lab. Sandy did her postdoctoral work at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the Gene Therapeutics Research Institute. As a postdoctoral fellow, Sandy studied the immune response to viral vectors used in the treatment of Parkinson's and brain tumors.

Upon leaving her postdoctoral position, Sandy accepted a position as the Director of Research at a small biotech company in Atlanta, Georgia called GeneCure. GeneCure's focus is on the development of vaccines for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C.

Sandy eventually left the bench for an alternative science career in patent law. In her current position as Scientific Advisor, Sandy writes and prosecutes patents focused in the biotech and pharmaceutical arenas. Sandy has found this area of work very rewarding as she is constantly reading and learning about new and exciting areas of science. You can read more about Sandy at: http://pabstpatent.com/bio/sandra_a._sciascia-zirger_ph.d/

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