Name: Gabrielle Vontz
Program Entry: Summer 2022
Department: Genetics
Mentor: Dr. Qiang Shen
Hometown: Wamego, KS
Education: Concurrent B.S./M.S in Biology, Kansas State University
Past Research Experience:
Research Summer Intern (June 2021 – July 2021), LSUHSC: I worked in Dr. Qiang Shen’s Lab as part of the Medical Student Summer Research Program at LSUHSC. My project involved anticancer drug development through application of targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology to previously identified small molecule inhibitors.
Research Assistant/Graduate Research Assistant/Undergraduate Researcher (Jan. 2015 – May 2020), KUMC/Kansas State University: I worked in Dr. Jeroen Roelofs’ Lab for 5 years in varying capacities. The Roelofs Lab studies the ubiquitin proteasome system in yeast with special interest in proteasome assembly, localization, regulation, and autophagic degradation. As an undergraduate researcher, I contributed to a project which aimed to identify factors specific for proteasome autophagy. For an independent Master’s Thesis, I studied transient proteasome inclusions known as proteasome storage granules (PSGs); specifically, I identified factors involved in the formation of PSGs under varying stress conditions.
Publications:
- Waite, K.A., Burris, A., Vontz, G., Lang, A. & Roelofs, J. (2021). Proteaphagy is specifically regulated and requires factors dispensable for general autophagy. J Biol Chem. 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101494
- Waite, K. A., De La Mota-Peynado, A., Vontz, G. & Roelofs, J. (2016). Starvation Induces Proteasome Autophagy with Different Pathways for Core and Regulatory Particle. J. Biol. Chem. 10.1074/jbc.M115.699124
Current Research Interest: Cancer/Immunology
Current Medical Interest: Unsure
Career Goal: I intend to be a scientist that asks questions based on experiences with patients, and a physician that approaches patient care with the same creativity and innovation I use in research.
What makes you unique? I dislike cheesecake.