QualificationsPh.D., Baylor College of Medicine, Cell and Molecular Biology, 1997. B.S., University of Southern California, Molecular Biology, 1991. Future ResearchOne of my long-term goals is to continue to develop my skills in informatics, human genetic disease mechanisms and basic science. My lab currently utilizes the model organism Drosophila melanogaster to investigate human genetic disease gene function. I am currently working on several projects to this end. The main focus of my research is to identify the targets of the human E3 ligase UBE3A. Mutations in this gene cause a mental retardation disorder known as Angelman syndrome and may also be resposible for some cases of autism. We are currently doing biochemistry as genetic screening using the Drosophila version of the UBE3A gene to identify these targets. I feel that the targets of UBE3A will play key roles in basic neuron functions like synaptic plasticity and that the misregulation of these targets by altered UBE3A levels can result in clinical manifestations ranging from autism to mental retardation. Industrial RelevanceWe have found that over 75% of known human disease associated genes have counterparts in Drosophila. Since Drosophila is a simple model organism that is ideal for doing genetic screening, it is our hope that we will be able to identify proteins which interact with these disease associated proteins. In this way we hope to quickly identify putative therapeutic targets for such diseases. In 2002 Dr. Ethan Bier and I founded a small biotechnology company called Novascape sciences. The goal of Novascapesciences is to utilize the tools of Drosophila melanogaster to determine the eitiology of human disease. This project involves several patents, on which two I am a co-author. KeywordsCOS Keywords:Anatomy, Ataxia, Autism, Biological Modeling, Biological Sciences, Genetics, Neurobiology, Neuroscience, Proteomics.Additional Terms:Genetic Models, Human Drosophila Disease, Proteomics.MembershipsAmerican Society of Human Genetics Genetics Society of America Honors and Awards2006, Invited Speaker,
Epigenetics and Neural Developmental Disorders
2005-2005,
Co-chair,
ASHG,
Model organsims from yeast to humans (minus the mouse)
2003-2005,
Postdoctoral Fellowship,
Cure Autism Now Foundation,
University of California, San Diego,
Using Drosophila to study Angelman syndrome
2003, Postdoctoral Translational Award,
ASHG,
Best Postdoctoral Presentation
2002, Invited Speaker,
ASHG,
Using Drosophila to study Alzheimer's disease
2001, Scholarship, Bioinformatics Course,
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,
Bioinformatics
2000-2001,
Postdoctoral Fellowship,
Glaucoma Foundation,
University of California, San Diego
1998, Outstanding Dissertation Award,
Sigma Xi,
Baylor College of Medicine,
CMT1A Duplication/ HNPP Deletion
1998, Invited Speaker,
ASHG,
CMT1A Duplication/ HNPP Deletion
1997, Invited Speaker,
FASEB,
CMT1A
1997, Inivted Speaker,
ASHG,
CMT1A
1997-1998,
Postdoctoral Fellowship,
CMT Association,
Baylor College of Medicine
1996, Claude W. Smith Fellowship Award,
Baylor College of Medicine,
Outstanding Graduate Student
1996, Boehringer Ingelheim Fellowship Award,
Boehringer Ingelheim,
Baylor College of Medicine,
Travel Award
1996, Young Scientist Fellowship Award,
Baylor College of Medicine
Previous Positions1998-2005, Postdoctoral Fellow,
University of California, San Diego,
Biology
1997-1998, Postdoctoral Fellow CMT Association,
Baylor College of Medicine,
Medicine,
Molecular and Human Genetics
1993-1997, Graduate Student,
Baylor College of Medicine,
Medicine,
Molecular and Human Genetics
Funding Received
Publications
Profile DetailsLast Verified: 7/20/2007 COS Expertise ID #1012474 Reference this profile directly: http://myprofile.cos.com/tonup69 Individual Expertise profile of Lawrence T. Reiter, Copyright Lawrence T. Reiter. © COS ExpertiseTM, 2008, ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. |