AI Summary
The University of Virginia is using precision medicine to combat breast cancer with the help of a grant from Susan G. Komen. The research focuses on studying "triple negative" breast cancer and how genes and proteins interact within organelles. Doctoral student Catalina Alvarez Yela is working on building computational models of chromosome segregation and testing them in mouse experiments. This research aims to advance systems biology to defeat breast cancer.
Through precision medicine, the University of Virginia is working toward a world in which no more pink ribbons are necessary. To that end, Susan G. Komen announced support this summer for the UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science’s efforts to apply systems biology research to defeat breast cancer.
Komen announced a collective $10 million in research awards , including a $100,000 grant over two years to support the work of doctoral student Catalina Alvarez Yela, who is studying “triple negative” breast cancer, an aggressive type of invasive breast cancer that is hard to selectively target.Ā
UVA biomedical engineerĀ Kevin JanesĀ is her mentor on the project.
The pair will be focusing on how genes and proteins interact with each other within organelles. Those are the “little organs” such as mitochondria that reside within cells and perform specialized functions. Specifically, they are studying the regulation of a protein complex that forms its own mini-organelle when cells separate their chromosomes during division.
Catalina is building computational models of chromosome segregation during cell division and how that process goes wrong in breast cancer. She is also testing model predictions in mouse experiments in the lab.”
Kevin Janes,Ā UVA biomedical engineer
The ASPIRE Grant -; an acronym for Supplement to Promote Inclusion for Research Excellence -; encourages opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds. Alvarez Yela is a native of Colombia.Ā
Janes, the John Marshall Money Professor of biomedical engineering, co-directs theĀ Center for Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles, where the research is being