Jennifer Gillette, PhD

Biography

Dr. Gillette received her B.S degree in Biology (1999) from Gettysburg College and her Ph.D. in Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (2004). Dr. Gillette completed Post-Doctoral Fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health where she worked in the Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In 2011, Dr. Gillette joined the faculty of the UNM HSC Department of Pathology.

Personal Statement

Research in the Gillette Laboratory explores the mechanisms of cell communication within the bone marrow microenvironment that regulate healthy and malignant hematopoietic cells. The bone marrow provides the regulatory microenvironment or niche for the proliferation and survival of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), which give rise to all blood and immune cells. HSPCs traffic between the blood circulation and the bone marrow moving in and out of niche sites where they interact with soluble and adhesive components of the marrow. These interactions provide cues for HSPC proliferation, quiescence, survival and trafficking. Moreover, specific leukemias, such as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), arise from mutations within HSPC populations, resulting in cancer stem cells that traffic to the bone marrow where they are often quiescent and chemoresistant, leading to disease relapse. Utilizing cutting edge imaging techniques and in vivo preclinical models, our laboratory takes a combinatorial approach toward understanding how healthy stem cells and malignant cells are recruited to and signal within the bone marrow, which we anticipate will offer new possibilities in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and regenerative medicine and in future treatments for leukemia.

Areas of Specialty

Cell Biology
Cell-Cell Communication within the Bone Marrow Microenvironment
Quiescence/Dormancy Signaling Mechanisms
Tetraspanin Membrane Scaffold Proteins

Achievements & Awards

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2019
New Mexico IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence Research Recognition Award, 2018
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Excellence in Research Award
for Junior Faculty, 2015
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Educational Excellence Award, 2015
Outstanding Mentor Award, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Student Society,
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, 2015
Young Alumni Achievement Award for Career Development, Gettysburg College, 2014
NIH Intramural Research Training Award, 2004-2010
NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence, 2009
NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence, 2008
NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence, 2007
American Society for Cell Biology Novel and Newsworthy Research Award, 2006
NASA Graduate Student Research Award, 2002-2004
National Osteoporosis Foundation Mazee’s Student Research Award. 2002
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Outstanding Student Research
Award, 2002
Gettysburg College Women of Distinction Award, 2002
University of Colorado Retired Faculty Association Outstanding Graduate
Research Award, 2001
Dorothy Shaw Outstanding Leadership Award - Gettysburg College, 1999
Gettysburg College Senior Scholarship Award, 1998-1999

Gender

Female

Languages

• English

Courses Taught

BIOM 508: Advanced Cell Biology, Course Director
BIOM 522: Experimental Design and Methods in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
BIOM 410: Research in Medical Sciences
BIOM 583: Seminar: Pathology

Research and Scholarship

Floren M, Restrepo Cruz S, Termini CM, Marjon KD, Lidke KA, Gillette JM. ”Tetraspanin CD82 drives acute myeloid leukemia chemoresistance by modulating protein kinase C alpha and ?1 integrin activation.” Oncogene. Mar 19. 2020.

Saito-Reis, C, Marjon, KD, Pascetti, EM, Floren, M, Gillette JM. “The Tetraspanin CD82 regulates Bone Marrow Homing and Engraftment of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells.” Mol Biol Cell. Nov 26;29(24):2946-2958. 2018. Special Issue on Stem Cell Biology.

Termini CM, Lidke KA, Gillette JM. “Tetraspanin CD82 Regulates the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of PKCa in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Sci Rep. 2016. 6, 29859;doi:10.1038/srep29859.

Marjon, KD*, Termini, CM*, Karlen, KL, Saito-Reis, C, Soria, CE, Lidke, KA, Gillette, JM. “Tetraspanin CD82 regulates bone marrow homing of acute myeloid leukemia by modulating the molecular organization of N-cadherin” *Equal Contribution. Oncogene. Aug 4;35(31):4132-40. 2016.

Provisional Patent: File 0310.000145US60 “Methods for Increasing Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in blood.” Saito-Reis, C, Balise, VD, Pascetti, EM, Floren, M, Gillette JM.

Complete list of published work in MyBibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/jennifer.gillette.1/bibliography/public/