Donnelly Student Profile Series - Erin Styles

Given the collaborative nature of the Donnelly Centre, it’s no surprise that Erin Styles pursued her PhD degree under the co-supervision of two esteemed Donnelly Centre faculty, Dr. Brenda Andrews and Dr. Charlie Boone.

In her PhD, Erin used a sophisticated high-throughput approach to study how proteins in cells respond to alterations in the genetic code or the surrounding environment. She has analyzed DNA damage response and repair pathways and has identified a number of genes that are required for a cell to properly respond to DNA damage. Her goal is to analyze the entire cell in a similar way to produce a global view of genes that are responsible for maintaining normal subcellular morphology in a model organism. This is why Erin decided to stay on in the lab after graduating until she completes her projectErin’s work is revealing several important facets about the structures and morphologies that allow cells to compartmentalize their contents. Her work will expand scientists’ view of basic cell biology and provide a model that can be used to interpret cellular aberrations and inform discovery in humans.

During her doctorate, Erin has been selected to speak at prestigious scientific conferences around the world and is working towards publishing her work in a top-tier scientific journal.

"As soon as I visited the Donnelly Centre, I knew it was the right place for me. Pursuing my PhD degree at a Centre like this has broadened my horizons and exposed me to academic pursuits that I might not have experienced otherwise."  Dr. Erin Styles