FUNG4L
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FUNG4L could have a variety of meanings.
Fungal means "of or pertaining to a fungus" which makes this lab the fungal lab, as we study a fungus.
Or you can read it as fun gal , where "fun" means "a source of enjoyment... amusing... excited... playful... diversion" and "gal" is informal for girl.
As I see it, our lab is about studying a fungus, having fun, and we are a bunch of gals!
It's also my license plate, for
all of those reasons (and because I'm a big nerd).
Where was Dr. Reese before CCC?
I attended The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio because of its strong chemistry and music programs. I was a chemistry major and a music minor. For my senior thesis (called Independent Study and required of all Wooster seniors regardless of major), I studied small molecule x-ray crystallography with Virginia Pett. My project was to determine the 3D structure of a chemical that was a mimic for vitamin B12.
After I got my B.A. (Wooster is focused on the liberal arts tradition and does not grant B.S. degrees), I took a year off between college and graduate school to work for Habitat for Humanity for an entire year. I was stationed at a small chapter in North Carolina (I doubled the staff count). My major role there involved public speaking to educate people about the benefits of Habitat for the future homeowner and the volunteers. I also helped match volunteers with projects, screened potential homeowners, made site visits, and did a fair amount of building!
I then enrolled in the University of Minnesota graduate program for Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics to study protein x-ray crystallography with Leonard J. Banaszak. There I compared members of a protein family that had a similar overall structure but bound different fatty acids. Based on those comparisons, I made mutations in the DNA that coded for one of the proteins to try to make it bind more like the other one. It had some interesting and new results! That was where I got my Ph. D.
I found that although I liked teaching crystallography, I didn't want to sit at the computer all day to do structure refinement (it involves tweaking your model and then checking to see how it fits the data and repeating this process...). I was planning to move to St. Louis, Missouri, and began looking at programs at the Washington University School of Medicine. I was fascinated by the work going on in the lab of Tamara Doering in the Department of Molecular Microbiology. I went there to do postdoctoral work (which means research after you have your doctorate, is common in science these days, and is a good time to change fields if you want to). The lab was interested in how the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans makes and attaches its infectious polysaccharide coating (capsule). My focus was how does it stick to the cell, and my work answered the cell side of things. It requires a special sugar.
Here at Cedar Crest College, I am interested in learning more about how this sugar (alpha-1,3-glucan) is made and regulated, and whether or not controlling its regulation would make a good drug target to treat cryptococcosis.
I have been interested in teaching in
a small liberal arts college-like setting since I attended The College
of Wooster
for my own undergraduate work. I applied for tenure-track assistant
professor positions at colleges and some small universitites where
I could do
both teaching and research.
When it came down to interviews,
I was very intrigued
by Cedar Crest's program. I was pleased to find the fluorescent
and confocoal microscopes, as they are very relevant to my imaging
work.
Most small
schools do
not
have
this
equipment
and I would have to write for a grant to obtain such before even getting
started. I was impressed by the communication, breadth, and depth within
the biology
department
faculty and programs. I have always been interested in issues of science
access for all interested, and have been particularly supportive of
women in science. The fact that Cedar Crest College is a women's college
was something special. I enjoyed my visit with
the
students,
I liked
the
idea of
moving to this area, and all the pieces seemed to fit - so here I am!
And I'm happy to be here!
Well, I'd certainly like to believe so. :-) My husband, Dr. Jeramia Ory, is also a scientist. We met while we were in graduate school and that was why I moved to St. Louis. He was also trained in x-ray crystallography and is more interested in biochemistry than microbiology. In PA, Jeramia initially was working for the protein databank (RCSB) at Rutgers. This is where researchers deposit 3D coordinates of protein and other molecules that they solve. In the fall of 2006, he began teaching and doing research in his own lab at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
In the photo we are hiking around Mt. Rainer in the
state of Washington during our honeymoon.
... and the cats, or "the boys" as we sometimes refer to them, Kashi and Hilbert.
Iona at about 8 weeks
Iona at about 10 weeks with her Daddy
PopPop (Grandpa Reese) says it's never too early to learn about investing (~3 months).
Almost 6 months and almost sitting
Yeah, it's the first day of the 2008 spring semester (~7 months)!
Cool, mommy and daddy had a snowday in February and I got to go sledding for the first time (~8 months)
Iona on her first birthday (photo by Mike Ritter, www.ritterbin.com)
Our family on Iona's second birthday (photo by Mike Ritter, www.ritterbin.com)
Iona playing on her second birthday (photo by Mike Ritter, www.ritterbin.com)
Music. That's an easy one. I've been able to hold my own voice part since I was three. During my high school summers I attended a music camp in upstate NY, now Hartwick College Summer Music Festival and Institute. During my late high school and throughout my college years I was a counselor during the summer at that camp.
I played my French horn through my Ph.D. work (where I played in the Health Sciences Orchestra with other medical and science people!), but didn't pick it up during my postdoc or the first few years at Cedar Crest. In the spring of 2008, I joined the newly formed campus group, the Instrumental Ensemble.
The singing I've kept up more easily. In MN I sang with
the Westminster Presbyterian Church choir and Voce
Magna,
a 16 person ensemble. In St. Louis I sang with the Webster University
Chorus, Second Presbyterian Church choir, and the Greenleaf
Madrigal ensemble.
When I'm home relaxing,
I'm probably photo scrapbooking. It's sort of like keeping a lab notebook
of data and pictures.... it's just more fun for others to look at! In
the warmer
weather I'm likely to be out gardening.
The Greenleaf Singers, Christmas 2003. You should be able to pick me out in the middle, and my husband is in the back right with the maroon cape and cavalier hat!