As Principal Scientist in the Department of Discovery Oncology, my lab is interested in two main areas of biology: non-catalytic functions of protein kinases and pseudokinases such as BRAF and KSR and regulation of MAPK signaling in RAS-mutant tumors. We utilize a variety of approaches to address these problems including in vivo models of disease, in vitro biochemical and cellular studies, small molecule kinase inhibitors, chemical biology approaches including proteomics studies (in collaboration with Dr. Don Kirkpatrick) and structure-function studies. To understand the mechanistic principles of scaffolding functions of protein kinases at a structural level, my lab collaborates closely with several other labs at Genentech including Dr. Sarah Hymowitz’s lab in the Structural Biology Department.

• University of California, San Diego, Ph.D., Biochemistry – 2000
• University of California, Irvine, M.S., Chemistry – 1995
• University of California, Los Angeles, B.S., Biochemistry – 1993

• Genentech Women’s Professional Emerging Leader – 2013
• Pre-doctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association University of California, San Diego, Department of Chemistry and Biochemi – 1998-2000
• Molecular Biophysics Training Grant, National Institute of Health University of California, San Diego, Department of Chemistry and Bioche – 1996-1998
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant, University of California, San Diego, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry – 1996-1997
• Graduate Research Traineeship, National Science Foundation University of California, Irvine, Department of Chemistry – 1994-1995
• Outstanding Research Award in Biochemistry, Emory University, School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Chemistry – 1993
• Outstanding Research Proposal, UCLA Association of Chemists and Biochemists, University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry – 1991