Natalie A. Ciaccio

Natalie is a 2006 - 2010 Self Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry. She received a B.S. (2001) in pharmacy from Purdue University. She participated in a Pharmacy Management Summer Training Program funded by Walgreens Corporation. Natalie worked as a quality control representative for Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis for three years, and later worked as a research specialist in the biopharmaceutical science department at the University of Illinois-Chicago. She also worked as a licensed staff pharmacist in Indiana and Illinois. At KU she has received the Takeru Higuchi Fellowship and participated in student organizations. Natalie's research interests involve the structural and functional analysis of proteins for the purposes of better understanding the role these proteins play in intracellular signaling and regulation of cellular events. She is currently studying a novel class of protein tyrosine phosphatase important in tissue regeneration and development, and linked to cellular transformation and tumor metastasis. Her goal is to return to the pharmaceutical industry and work in the development of biological agents as drugs. Mentor: Jennifer S. Laurence, Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Chemistry