Author: Chelsea

Integrated Biomedical Sciences Program,

Cancer Biology Cluster

Department of Biological Science

University of Notre Dame

Telephone: 951-970-6388 / e-mail:  cmccall1@nd.edu

Curriculum vitae

Education

Current                             PhD, Integrated Biomedical Sciences in Cancer Biology, University

of Notre Dame

 

2014                                Master’s degree of Science California State University, Fullerton                                                            (CSUF)

 

2011                                Bachelor’s degree of Science, Concentration in Molecular Biology

and Biotechnology, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF)

 

Teaching

2015                               Teaching Associate (Cell Biology Laboratory, Notre Dame)

 

2013                               Teaching Associate (Genetics and Molecular Biology Laboratory,

lower division core course for Biology majors, CSUF)

 

2011, 2012                     Teaching Associate (Immunology Laboratory, upper

division elective course for Biology and Biochemistry majors, CSUF).

 

Publications (Peer-Reviewed Research Articles and Review Articles)

 

C McCallister, B Kdeiss, R Oliverio, N Nikolaidis.  Characterization of the binding between a 70-kDa heat shock protein, HspA1A, and phosphoinositides. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 2016:472(1):270-5.

Mason J.A., C.A. Davison-Versagli, A.K. Leliaert, C McCallister, S.M. Durbin, C.L. Buchheit, S. Zhang, Z.T. Schafer. Oncogenic Ras differentially regulates metabolism and anoikis in extracellular matrix-detached cells.  Cell Death and Differentiation.  2016.

 

2015

C McCallister, B Kdeiss, N Nikolaidis.  HspA1A, a 70-kDa heat shock protein, differentially interacts with Antonio lipids. Biochemical and Biophysics Research Communications. 2015.

 C McCallister, B Kdeiss, and N Nikolaidis.  Biochemical characterization of the interaction between HspA1A and phospholipids. Cell Stress and Chaperones. 2015.

C McCallister, M C. Siracusa , F Shirazi , D Chalkia , and N Nikolaidis. Functional Diversification and Specialization of Cytosolic 70-kDa Heat Shock Proteins. Scientific Reports. 2015:5:9363.

Ishida, Y, C McCallister, N Nikolaidis, K Tsangaras, K M Helgen, A D Greenwood, A Roca. Sequence variation of koala retrovirus transmembrane protein p15E among koalas from different geographic regions. Virology. 2015:475:28-36.

 

2011

Das S, M Hirano, C McCallister, R Tako, N Nikolaidis. Comparative genomics and evolution of the immunoglobulin-encoding loci in tetrapods. Advances in Immunology. 2011;111:143-78. Review.

Das S, M Hirano, R Tako, C McCallister, N Nikolaidis. Evolutionary genomics of the immunoglobulin multigene family in jawed vertebrates. Current Genomics; invited review to NN).

 

2010

Das S, N Nikolaidis, H Goto, C McCallister, J Li, M Hirano, MD Cooper. Comparative genomics and evolution of the alpha-defensin multigene family in primates. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2010 27:2333-2343.

 

Outreach Service

February     2016                   Science Night, Northpoint Elementary School

January       2016                   Science Fair Judge, Swanson Primary Elementary School

May            2015                    Bringing Science to Life, University of Notre Dame

April           2015                   Bringing Science to Life, Eastside Connection Elementary School

March         2015                   Bringing Science to Life, Center for the Homeless

March         2015                   Science Alive at the St. Joseph Library, South Bend, IN

April           2014                   HHMI Summer Research Experience Committee Member

November   2013                  HHMI Weekend Research Experience

October       2013                  SUCCESS Workshop: How to graph in Excel, CSUF

March         2013                   Fifth-grade Science Night, Scott Ave. Elementary, Whittier

Fall             2009                   John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Day, CSUF

 

Volunteer

September 2013                   SUCCESS Opening Event, CSUF

April         2013                   STEM Workshop, Cypress Colleges

August      2012                   New Biology Graduate Student Orientation

August      2012                   Natural Science and Mathematics Day

 

Societies

2016                                   American Society for Clinical Oncology

2015                                    American Association for Cancer Research

2015                                    American Society for Cell Biology

2010                                    American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

 

Other

May        2015                    Philanthropy Officer of the Biology Graduate Students Organization,

Notre Dame

August    2012-                  President of the Biology Graduate Students Club, CSUF

August    2013

 

Grants, Fellowships, and Scholarships

April 2013                             Dr. and Mrs. Marvin J. Rosenberg Scholarship

September 2012                 Graduate Equity Fellowship

September 2012                 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Year-Round Program

April 2012                            Jack Bradshaw Scholarship in Immunology

December 2011                  ASI Grant

December 2010                  Faculty-Student Research Grant

November 2010                  ASI Grant

April 2010                            Jack Bradshaw Scholarship in Immunology

 

Awards and Honors

January 2013                       CSUPERB Poster Competition, Don Eden Award Finalist

March 2012                         National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship,

Honorable Mention

January 2012                       American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Graduate/

Postdoctoral Travel Award

August 2011                         Graduate Equity Fellowship

April 2011                            American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Poster

Competition, Honorable Mention

February 2011                      American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student

Travel Award

January 2011                        CSUPERB Poster Competition, Glen Nagel Award Finalist

 

 

Conferences: Poster Presentations and Competitions

 

McCallister C, Rayavarapu R, Pagani N, Heiden B, Shaw M, Shuff S, and Schafer Z.T.  Ras-mediated Regulation of Cytochrome c-induced Caspase Activation is Dependent on the Status of Extracellular Matrix Attachment. AACR, New Orleans, NA, 2016.

 McCallister C, Rayavarapu R, Pagani N, Heiden B, Shaw M, Shuff S, and Schafer Z.T.  Ras-mediated Regulation of Cytochrome c-induced Caspase Activation is Dependent on  the Status of Extracellular Matrix Attachment. IU Simon Cancer Center Amelia Project,. IU Kokomo, IN, 2016.

 McCallister C, Rayavarapu R, Pagani N, Heiden B, Shaw M, Shuff S, and Schafer Z.T. Ras-mediated Regulation of Cytochrome c-induced Caspase Activation is Dependent on  the Status of Extracellular Matrix Attachment. IU Simon Cancer Research Day, IU Simon, IN, 2015.

Attended the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology conference, Boston, MA, 2015.

 McCallister C and Nikolaidis N. Lipid-binding functionally differentiates paralogous 70-kD heat shock proteins in mice. ScalE Meeting USC 2014.

 *McCallister C and Nikolaidis N. Biochemical Characterization of the Interaction between HspA1A and Lipids. 25th Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium, Anaheim, CA, 2013. Poster Competition, Don Eden Award Finalist

McCallister C and Nikolaidis N. Characterization of the Effects of Lipid-binding on the Chaperone Activities of 70-kDa Heat-shock Proteins. 24th Annual CSU Biotechnology.  Symposium, San Jose, CA, 2013.

McCallister C and Nikolaidis N. Characterization of the Effects of Lipid-binding on the Chaperone Activities of 70-kDa Heat-Shock Proteins. ASBMB Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2012.

McCallister C and Nikolaidis N. Characterization of the Effects of Lipid-binding to the Activities of Hsp70s: a Novel Mechanism of Chaperone Regulation. 23^rd Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium, Santa Clara, CA, 2012.

*McCallister C, G Donnelly, D Le, S Chaudhari, N Nikolaidis. Computational Prediction and     Experimental Validation of the Lipid-Binding Regions of Hsp70 Proteins. ASBMB Annual     Meeting, Washington, DC, 2011. Poster Competition, Honorable Mention

 *McCallister C, Le D, Donnelly, G, Clemens J, Chaudhari S, Nikolaidis N. Identification and Characterization of the Lipid-binding Regions of HSPA1A: A Member of the Hsp70      Protein Family. 23^rd Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium, Anaheim, CA, 2011. Poster Competition, Nagel Award Finalist

 McCallister C, D Le,  S Chaudhari, R Tako, J Clemens, N Nikolaidis. Functional annotation of the lipid-binding regions of the 70-kDa heat shock proteins. 2nd RECOMB Satellite Conference on Bioinformatics Education, San Diego, CA, 2010.

McCallister C, P Frousiakis, U Mohamedy, F Shirazi, D Le, N Nikolaidis. Functional Annotation of the Lipid-binding Regions of HSPA1A: A Member of the Hsp70 Protein Family. 22nd Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium, Santa Clara, CA, 2010.

 Nikolaidis, N, C McCallister. Evolution and Functional Characterization of the Lipid-Hsp70 Interactions. HHMI Seminar Series, MIT, Boston, MA.

Nikolaidis N, C McCallister, G Donnelly, S Chaudhari.  Functional Characterization of the Interactions of the 70-kD Heat Shock Proteins (Hsp70s) with Lipids. ASBMB Annual. Meeting, Washington, DC, 2011.

Chaudhari S, C McCallister, Shirazi F, Botros D, Tako R, Nikolaidis N. Mouse Hsp70s are Functionally Differentiated with Respect to Their Lipid-binding Properties. 22nd Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium, Santa Clara, CA, 2010.

*Indicates posters used for competitions

Bold type indicates presenting author

 

 

 

 

 

 

My name is Chelsea McCallister. I am a graduate student in the Integrated Biomedical Sciences program at the University of Notre Dame. I am a part of the Social Responsibility of Researchers  (SRR) program within the university. The idea of the program is to bring together minds of researchers across diverse science and social science disciplines to learn how to best engage the community in research and train young scholars to frame our research under ethical and socially responsible research.

My scientific research focuses on how cancer cells are able to survive when they should not be able to, spread through the body during the process of metastasis, and ultimately lead to patient death. Cancer cell survival in incorrect contexts is what allows for cells to lose their regulation and spread through the body.  What I am trying to understand is now cells mis-communicate with each other and are able to go rogue and cause disease.  If we are able to elucidate the mechanism by which cells survive we will find targetable pathways we can shut down and prevent metastasis.

Part of the SRR program is developing and executing a project.  Science communication is a fundamentally important skill which is not taught or addressed very well in academic training.  Scientists need to be able to effectively communicate to be able to open a dialogue with the general public about science and encourage young students to pursue scientific careers.  For my SRR project, I plan to work with the Alan Alda Center for Communicting Science to bring their theater improv workshop to the University of Notre Dame.  The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science uses theater and improv techniques to train scientists how to distill their message and communicate it to a general audience.  Having the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science come to Notre Dame and run a two-day workshop will allow many people to be trained in the methods of using theater to communicate science.  Not only will the workshop train current graduate students to use these techniques to effectively communicate, it will extablish the foundation for sustained implementation of an emphasis on science communication.  Emphasizing science communication will not only help the current graduate students to competiveily enter into academic and industry science roles and strength the outreach of science at Notre Dame, but will prepare these students to train the next-generation of scientists in responsible research and scientific communication.