Jessica Garofalo, B.S.

I am a recent graduate of the University of Richmond with an honors major in Biology and minor in Mathematics. I have a background in the field of structural biology through work with the signal recognition protein, VirA, in the Agrobacterium tumefaciens pathogenic pathway. My previous research experience also includes work through the University of Colorado Cancer Center studying the role of MIRO2 in metastatic breast cancer. Additionally, I used field and mapping techniques to study the health of keystone coral species in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama as part of the School for Field Studies.

As a research assistant in the Robson Lab, my main research focus is optimizing our high throughput screening protocols for testing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on iPSCs differentiated into extra-embryonic cells. The goals of this project are to characterize the effects of EDCs on the steroidogenesis processes within the primitive syncytium cells using morphological and metabolomic screening. In this position, I am additionally responsible for conducting experimental work for research occurring within the lab. Some of these projects include working for the KAPP-Sen Tissue Mapping Center as part of the SenNet goals to better understand senescence in healthy human tissues, in addition to the Molecular Phenotypes of Null Alleles in Cells (MorPhiC) initiative with the goal to knockout 250 protein-coding genes in human iPSCs within its first five years. Through these projects, I am continuing to gain additional research skills in a variety of methods to better prepare for my eventual pursual of a PhD.

Jessica Garofalo on Orcid

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