UT Chem/Biochem Dept

The 2003-2004 Beckman Scholars: Lauren Woodard (Harkinson), PhD

Faculty Mentor:Professor Karen S. Browning Length of term: Summer 03, Fall 03, Spring 04, Summer 04. Honors & Awards:University Honors (Spring 01­Spring 04); Undergraduate Research Fellowship Awards (twice); George L. Clark/McCorp Scholarship; Unrestricted Endowed Presidential Scholarship; Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Scholarship; Pirrung Family Scholarship; Order of Omega; Order of the Dagger; NSF Fellowship Honorable Mention (2005); Jain Foundation for muscular dystrophy, Forum Prize (2007); Nephrology T32 (2009-11); Hematology T32 (2011-12) Publications: Eight publications, most recently: Liang, A. et al, J. Pathology, in press (2012). Keravala, A. et al. Gene Ther. 2011, 18, 842-8. Woodard, L.E.et al, PLoS One. 2010, 5, e11367. Chavez C.L.et al. Hum. Gene Ther. 2010 21, 1287-97. Woodard, L.E. et al, Gene Ther. 2010, 17, 217-26. Woodard, L.E.; Calos, M.P. in Herzog, R. and Zolotukhin, S., Ed. A Guide to Human Gene Therapy, 1st ed.; World Scientific: Mountain View, 2010. Where is she now? Graduated with Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with Highest Honors, and Special Departmental Honors, May 2004. Lauren received her PhD from Stanford in 2009, was a postdoc at Baylor College of Medicine until 2013, and is now a Research Instructor at Vanderbilt University. How can I contact her? lauren.woodard at vanderbilt.edu

Beckman research project in the Browning Group:

Cloning and Expressing Recombinant eIF4G, a Subunit of Arabadopsis eIF4F

Eukaryotic translation initiation involves a number of factors that must be present for the small ribosomal subunit to load onto a capped and polyadenylated mRNA. Among these complexes is eIF4F, which includes subunits eIF4G, eIF4E and eIF4A. The large subunit, eIF4G, was cloned as both a full-length gene and a truncated version into a vector for expression in E. coli cells. The full-length version does not express well. For the purpose of raising antibodies to eIF4G, the truncated eIF4G was co-purified with eIF4E. Preliminary results from the rabbit polyclonal antibodies suggest that they are specific for eIF4F.