Jovanka Gencel-Augusto, MS, BS

Jovanka Gencel-Augusto, MS, BS

Graduate Student
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas

Abstract 829. p53 dimers elicit tumor-suppressive activities through an altered metabolic program. 

What are your long-term career objectives?

My long-term goal is to become an independent researcher in the field of cancer research. I am interested in studying and identifying molecular dependencies in cancer cells and the development of targeted therapies. Besides contributing to making important scientific discoveries, I am committed to be actively involved in leadership positions to address current gaps in science exposure for underrepresented groups, such as Hispanics.

Please share information about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your research over the last two years.

The COVID pandemic started when I was in the third year of my PhD studies, and just in the middle of establishing mouse cohorts to understand the impact of monomeric and dimeric p53 mutations in tumor development. Even though my experimental research progress was delayed due to labs shut down at my institution, I took advantage of this time to review the literature on p53 tetramerization and dominant negative activities and, in collaboration with my PhD advisor, Dr. Guillermina Lozano, published a review article. This was an enriching experience as knowing in detail the past scientific discoveries helped shape my current research project.