Hosted by the Biochemistry and Nutrition department. 

Target Audience

Des Moines University faculty, staff, and students.

Learning Objectives

1. Differentiate between ploidy, polyploidy, aneuploidy and euploidy.
2. Summarize the prevalence of chromosome copy number changes in microbes and human disease.
3. Discuss the impact of chromosome and genome copy number changes on cellular phenotype, including cellular fitness.
4. Describe methods for detecting chromosome and genome copy number changes.

Speaker

Anna Selmecki, PhD
Creighton University

Dr. Anna Selmecki, of Creighton University, uses experimental evolution, mathematical modeling, comparative genomics and yeast genetics to understand the cause and effect of genome stability on cellular adaptation and disease pathogenesis. She has been an active member of the yeast and fungal pathogens community for over 10 years and her research on aneuploidy and polyploidy highlights the impact of large genome changes during adaptation. Dr. Selmecki completed her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry in 2002 at the College of St. Benedict / St. John’s University, and just five short years later, completed her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics at the University of Minnesota 2007. She conducted her Post-doc research in cell biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School. Her research has led to a paradigm shift in aneuploidy research: instead of thinking of aneuploidy as always deleterious to a cell, she shows that aneuploidy can provide significant benefits to a cell in some environments. Dr. Selmecki has presented her research at national and international conferences and serves as a reviewer for numerous journals.