Programs
IBMS Discipline
Mentor
Liesl Lawrence
Ph.D. Student
Biography
Liesl Lawrence is performing her dissertation research under the mentorship of Dr. Alexander Bishop at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute. She is interested in studying molecular mechanisms of pediatric cancer to discover novel therapeutic targets. Her project focuses on Ewing sarcoma, a bone and soft tissue cancer driven by a fusion oncogene that causes dysregulation of transcription and RNA processing.
Publications
Gorthi A, Romero J, Loranc E. Cao L, Lawrence L,Goodale E, Iniguez A, Bernard X, Masamsetti V, Roston S, Lawlor E, Toretsky J, Stegmaier K, Lessnick S, Chen Y, Bishop A. EWS-FLI1 increases transcription to cause R-loops and block BRCA1 repair in Ewing sarcoma. Nature. 2018 Mar 15; 555:387-391.
Education
B.S., Cell and Molecular Biology, The Master’s University, 2014
Awards
- Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program Horizon Award, Department of Defense, 2019-2021
- Rennels Memorial Award for Excellence in Graduate Studies, UT Health San Antonio Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, 2019
- 1st place – poster competition, Cell Systems and Anatomy Departmental Retreat, UT Health San Antonio, 2019
- Predoctoral trainee on Institutional National Research Service Award, T32 NIH/NCATS, TL1TR002647, funded by National Institutes of Health/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, 2018-2019