Rat embryonic brain slice expressing GFP
Hi! I’m Paige Helmer.
I attended The University of Chicago as an undergraduate, earning my BS in Biochemistry, as well as a BA in both Biology and Chemistry. My undergraduate research was done in the lab of Laurens Mets in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology. My project was to engineer a way of genetically modifying methanogenic Archaea in an anaerobic environment, with the ultimate goal of introducing an isoprene synthase gene.
After college, I worked as a research technician in the lab of Alexander Tarakhovsky at Rockefeller University, first on a project to determine the role of the BET family of proteins in stem cell pluripotency, then on a project to determine a potential cytoplasmic role for a histone methylase protein.
I did my thesis work in the lab of Richard Vallee in the Pathology Department at Columbia University where I studied the mechanisms of mitotic spindle orientation in the developing neocortex and showed that two kinesins, Kif1A and Kif13B, have opposing effects on spindle orientation and the rate of neurogenesis.
I currently work as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Carol Mason at the Zuckerman Institute where I am studying the influence of the retinal pigment epithelium on neuronal cell fate in the developing retina.
In the future, I’d like to work on neural cell fate specification in a broader context, using disparate model organisms like cephalopods, reptiles, and mammals, in order to understand brain development and function on a larger scale.
Outside of the lab, I bake, knit, rock climb, and spend time with my husband, Nick, and our two cats, Azazel and Lilith, and two dogs, Eevee and Fennekin.
Contact
paigehelmer@gmail.com or ph2497@columbia.edu
Please note that the email ph2497@cumc.columbia.edu will NOT reach me