Heather LaBreche

My name is Heather LaBreche. I am a native North Carolinian and I have the southern accent to prove it. I earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003. However, I have gone to the dark side (dark blue, that is) since joining Duke.

I was drawn to Duke's UPGG because I am interested in several different topics in genetics and the broad range of departments open to me allows me to explore them all. I rotated in Dr. Haifan Lin's lab in the Cell Biology Department where I studied mechanisms of germline stem cell self-renewal and differentiation as a model of general stem cell behavior. My project focused on MIWI, a murine gene with homologs in Drosophila and humans, thought to regulate spermatocyte differentiation by affecting translation of its target mRNAs. Next, my diverse interests took me to the Amalfitano lab, which studies the many applications of Adenovirus including gene delivery, gene therapy and vaccination. I had the chance to be involved in several ongoing projects, including a large collaborative to develop vectors that deliver a tumor-associated antigen to human dendritic cells which in turn generate antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Since then, I have joined the lab of Dr. Joseph Nevins, which studies pathways of cell proliferation and cell fate as well as novel genomic approaches to characterize tumor phenotypes and predict response to therapy. I am studying patterns of gene expression in peripheral blood cells that are associated with or indicative of tumor formation and progression in breast cancer.

Outside of lab and class there are a ton of things to do in the area, not to mention the state of NC. My husband and I especially enjoy camping and hiking both here and in the mountains. You can also find us many Saturdays at the dog park in north Raleigh with our dog, Lexi.

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