BOLIE SCHOLARS

I graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2018 with a degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. As an undergraduate, I conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Tin Tin Su, where I investigated the efficacy of a novel translation elongation inhibitor in models of colorectal carcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia. After graduation, I worked as a professional research assistant at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in the laboratory of Dr. Craig Jordan, studying mechanisms of resistance to venetoclax and azacitidine in acute myeloid leukemia.

I matriculated into the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) in 2019 and joined the Molecular Biology Program in 2021. I currently conduct my doctoral research in the laboratories of Dr. Heide Ford and Dr. Kristin Artinger, where I study the intersecting roles of the homeobox transcription factor SIX1 in rhabdomyosarcoma and muscle development, using both cell line and zebrafish models. My work has shown that SIX1 co-binds genomic loci that regulate proliferation in both developmental and oncogenic contexts. Additionally, I have found that pharmacologic inhibition of EYA2, a transcriptional co-activator of SIX1, disrupts the expression of SIX1 and other transcription factors critical for rhabdomyosarcoma growth and proliferation.

As a senior Molecular Biology and MSTP student, I am deeply committed to mentoring graduate students and aspiring physician-scientists. I currently serve as co-president of the MSTP Student Council and as a student member of the Molecular Biology Program admissions committee. Outside the lab, I enjoy hiking, camping, cooking, and brewing beer.

I graduated from Western Washington University in 2019 with a degree in Cell and Molecular Biology. During this time, I worked in the lab of Dr. Nick Galati where I studied genetic interactions that perturb primary ciliogenesis. After graduating from Western Washington, I moved to Colorado to work in the lab of Dr. Chad Pearson as a lab technician. 

I started in the Molecular Biology Program in the Fall of 2021, where I joined Dr. Chad Pearson’s lab as a graduate student. Here, I have been investigating why ciliogenesis defects arise in Trisomy 21. Specifically, I study how Trisomy 21 delays a process required for ciliogenesis called uncapping. My work is focused on cap specific E3 ubiquitin ligase trafficking defects in Trisomy 21.  

In my free time I like playing music, hanging out with my dog and partner, and exploring local breweries.  

I graduated with my undergraduate degree in 2017, and then after a 2-year gap with Americorps, obtained my master's degree in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Hawaii Manoa. During my masters, I worked in the lab of Dr. Ben Fogelgren investigating the role of the exocyst complex in amyloid beta trafficking in response to insulin.

I am currently a 5th year PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Rytis Prekeris. For my thesis project, I study the role of a post-translational modification, glutamylation, in microtubule remodeling during mitotic cell division, specifically in telophase. My work has illustrated the complexities of microtubule remodeling in cell division when the central spindle microtubules become the intercellular bridge, and how the glutamylation state may contribute to that change through downstream effects on microtubule interacting proteins.

During my time at Anschutz, I previously served on the Curriculum Committee and the Admissions Committee for the Molecular Biology Program, as well as participated as a mentor to an undergraduate as part of the Developing Scholars program. In my free time, I like to spend time with friends, make weird sculptures with clay, and do some baking.