I'm a writer and visual storyteller who combines the precision of scientific inquiry with the artistry of narrative in a clear concise manner.
User Guide for a Data portal
The NIH Genomic Data commons (GDC) is a repository and a computational platform that houses multivariate data for more than 80,000 cancer patients. This is a resource cancer researchers who need to understand cancer, its clinical progression, and response to therapy.
A Tumor-Specific Molecular Network Promotes Tumor Growth in Drosophila by Enforcing a Jun N-Terminal Kinase–Yorkie Feedforward Loop
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St. Jude Survivorship Portal: sharing and analyzing large clinical and genomic datasets from pediatric cancer survivors
Abstract
Childhood cancer survivorship studies generate comprehensive datasets comprising demographic, diagnosis, treatment, outcome, and genomic data from survivors. To broadly share this data, we created the St. Jude Survivorship Portal (https://survivorship.stjude.cloud), the first data portal for sharing, analyzing, and visualizing pediatric cancer survivorship data. Over 1,600 phenotypic variables and 400 million genetic variants from over 7,700 childhood cancer survivors can be explored...
Why do we change?
Recently, a very close friend of mine expressed to me that I had changed. For the past few days, I have been thinking deeply about this statement. Why do we change?
I met a girl at the airport while traveling to catch my flight. She was in her mid-20s, a highly introverted individual, and worked as a librarian in some small city/town in some eastern state. As a librarian and as someone preparing for library information services, she is expected to be meticulous in keeping things in order at t...
St. Jude Cloud Survivorship Portal offers a treasure trove of data for discovery in childhood cancers
More than 80% of children with cancer survive five years or more owing to emerging advancements in the treatment of childhood cancer. However, survival rates can vary greatly depending on the type of cancer, the treatment, and other factors. For survivors, their experience with cancer can remain a factor in their lives even into adulthood. While cancer treatment can in many cases offer a cure, these same treatments can also contribute to long-term challenges for survivors including their phys...
Abstract 4513: St. Jude Survivorship Portal: A data portal for storing, analyzing, and sharing large and complex cancer survivorship datasets
Abstract
Survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for developing various adverse health conditions as adults that are attributable to the cancer and treatments they were exposed to as children. Cancer survivorship research relies on large-scale, longitudinal studies that generate a wide range of demographic, clinical, and genetic data on cancer survivors at multiple time points. To maximize the utility of these comprehensive datasets, we must be able to store and share these datasets in a we...
Roles of Hippo and Ecdysone Receptor Signaling in the regulation of dronc
The Hippo pathway is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates organ size and tissue homeostasis in Drosophila and mammals. The pathway functions by regulating the nuclear availability of transcriptional cofactor Yorkie (Yki), mammalian YAP, which is regulated by the activity of a core kinase cascade comprising the serine threonine kinases Hippo (Hpo) and Warts (Wts) and their accessory proteins. Yki binds with transcription factors like Scalloped (Sd) or Homothorax (Hth) to regulate...
How to avoid overcommitting in grad school
Graduate school can be overwhelming and students often consider quitting midway. It is common to feel stressed, both physically and mentally. As grad students, we have the tendency to ignore the needs of our body and mind, and to overcommit. A worldwide survey study of over 6000 PhD students in 2019 performed by Nature revealed that the top four concerns of students are work-life balance, impostor syndrome, mental health, and conflicts with advisors, with the latter two being chosen as the to...
Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists
Abstract
Communication is a fundamental part of scientific development and methodology. With the advancement of the internet and social networks, communication has become rapid and sometimes overwhelming, especially in science. It is important to provide scientists with useful, effective, and dynamic tools to establish and build a fluid communication framework that allows for scientific advancement. Therefore, in this article, we present advice and recommendations that can help promote and im...
Hippo Signaling in Cancer: Lessons From Drosophila Models
1Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
2Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
3Pre-Medical Programs, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
4Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
5Integrated Science and Engineering Center, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
Hippo pathway was initially identified through genetic...
Drosophila Cancer Modeling Using the Eye Imaginal Discs
Abstract
Cancer is a devastating disease resulting from uncontrolled cell proliferation producing tumors and invasion/metastasis of cells resulting in secondary tumors. The underlying genetic defects occur in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and in genes that promote cancer cell survival. Here, we describe the development of preclinical models to study cancer biology using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Specifically, we focus on mutants that cause benign and metastatic tumors in f...
Tep1 Regulates Yki Activity in Neural Stem Cells in Drosophila Glioma Model
1Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
2Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton (TREND), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
3Premedical Programs, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
4Integrated Science and Engineering Center (ISE), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most common form of malignant brain tumor with poor prognosis. Amplification of Epidermal Growth Factor R...
Novel aromatic polyketides from soil Streptomyces spp.: purification, characterization and bioactivity studies
In this study, 54 Streptomyces strains were isolated from soil samples, with five, namely S. spectabilis, S. olivaceus, S. purpurascens, S. coeruleorubidus, and S. lavendofoliae, identified as potent aromatic polyketide producers. These strains yielded various bioactive compounds with promising therapeutic potential, including dihydrodaunomycin, elloramycin, rhodomycin, daunomycin, and a novel aclacinomycin analogue. The research underscores the potential of these compounds for future chemotherapeutic drug development.