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Dr. Shailaja Divekar

Postdoctoral fellow
Oncology, Georgetown University
3970 Reservior Rd, NW, NRB Rm:E412
 

Brief Biography:


EDUCATION Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2008 School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington DC M.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Specialization in Biotechnology (GPA 3.9/4.0), 2001 Georgetown University, Washington DC M.Sc in Cytogenetics, 1999 Ramnarain Ruia Collage Matunga (E), Mumbai, India. B.Sc. Bachelors in Science in Botany, 1997 JSM College, Alibag, India PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Oncology Department, Georgetown University, Washington DC July 2013-Present Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Dec-2010-July 2013 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Oncology department, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2008-Oct-2010 Intern, Molecular Biology Lab, US Vitamins, Mumbai, India, May 1999-Aug 1999
 

Academic positions:


*Post-Doctoral Fellow, Oncology Department, Georgetown University, Washington DC July 2013-Present •Currently working on finding targets for inducing mitotic catastrophe in multiple cancer cell lines particularly focusing on intracellular proteins like estrogen related receptor-beta (ERR?). More specifically to determine whether ERRbeta2/cortactin interactions are required for DY131-induced G2/M arrest leading to mitotic catastrophe. Also working on the role of estrogen related receptors and the role they play in obesity and warburg effect. •Another project focuses on determining the role of E26 transformation-specific (ETS) protein family in triple negative breast cancer. *Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Dec-2010-July 2013 Project focused on studying functions of ApoER2 and other lipoprotein receptors and their role in Alzheimer’s disease. Study the effects of different ligands and their effect on clustering of these receptors and subsequent downstream signaling and focused on ERK/MAPK and JNK signaling pathways. *Post-Doctoral Fellow, Oncology department, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2008-Oct-2010 •Work focused on estrogen like effects of arsenite and nitrite on mammary gland growth and development. Project addressed whether the increase in mammary tumors after exposure to anions is due to the ability of arsenite and nitrite to mimic estrogen.
 

Research interests:


As trained biochemist and molecular biologist, I interested in understanding the underlying mechanisms involved in developing and treating diseases such as cancer and neurodegerative disease. I am interested in understanding the role of nuclear receptors in different diseases, particularly their biology, structure, ligand interaction, and protein protein interactions. I am also interested in cell surface receptors and their downstream pathways and how clustering of these receptors can affect the overall frequency and amplitude of the signal. Clustering of receptors has recently gained lot of attention in diseases like cancer and autoimmune diseases. My second area of interest is the prevention aspect of the diseases. I believe that prevention is as important as finding cure for diseases and should be more studied. Overall I am interested in more interested in mechanistic and hypothesis driven science.
 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


I think the WebmedCentral model addresses certain key issues that are a problem in the current publishing environment. 1) It gives every scientist a platform to publish and contribute to science. The growing amount of time and bias that goes into publishing in peer reviewed journals is getting worse day by day. WebmedCentral addresses that problem by publishing all the articles and yet maintaining the peer review process. 2) This model not only removes the bias of the editors and reviewers, but also provides a platform for peer review process to be more transparent and visible to all. 3) The other important problem that WebmedCentral addresses is the cost. The cost in open access journals is too high for some researchers to publish. The cost to publish here is minimal and it gives a chance for all scientists to publish.