B.S. Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Dallas
Rachel is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the University Program in Genetics & Genomics.
Originally from Texas, Rachel pursued research throughout her undergraduate career. She primarily investigated inflammatory signaling and autophagy in breast and prostate cancer cell lines under the mentorship of Dr. Nikki Delk at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Along with her undergraduate studies, Rachel completed research semesters in Dublin, Ireland at the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute under Dr. Mark Little; Marburg, Germany at the Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg under Dr. Jörg Hänze; and Paris, France at the Institut Pasteur under Drs. Xavier Montagutelli and Jean Jaubert, where she mapped the Itgal locus in CC042 mice as a contributing factor to Salmonella Typhimurium susceptibility.
Rachel enjoys studying the genetic underpinnings of host-pathogen interactions and working with genetically diverse mice and bacterial strains to learn about the factors that impact TB disease outcomes.
Follow her on Twitter @Rachel_K_Meade!
HONORS & AWARDS
- Dean’s Graduate Fellowship, Duke University (2019)
- BioCoRE Graduate Scholarship, Duke University (2019)
- Pasteur Foundation Summer Intern, Institut Pasteur (2018)
- Barry M. Goldwater Scholar (2018)
- Eugene McDermott Scholar, The University of Texas at Dallas (2015)
PUBLICATIONS
Nawas, AF; Kanchwala, M; Thomas-Jardin, SE; Dahl, H; Daescu, K; Bautista, M; Anunobi, V; Wong, A; Meade, RK; Mistry, R; Ghatwai, N; Bayerl, F; Xing, C; Delk, NA, “IL-1-conferred gene expression pattern in ERα+ BCa and AR+ PCa cells is intrinsic to ERα– BCa and AR– PCa cells and promotes cell survival,” BMC Cancer, 20(46), 2020. (PMID: 31959131)
Zhang, J; Teh, M; Kim, J; Eva, MM; Cayrol, R; Meade, RK; Nijnik, A; Montagutelli, X; Malo, D; Jaubert, J, “A loss-of-function mutation in Itgal contributes to the high susceptibility of Collaborative Cross strain CC042 to Salmonella infections,” Infection and Immunity, 88(1), 2019. (PMID: 31636138)
Thomas, SE; Kanchwala, MS; Jacob, J; Merchant, S; Meade, RK; Ghanim, NM; Nawas, AF; Xing, C; Delk, NA, “Identification of an IL-1 induced gene expression pattern in AR+ PCa cells that mimics the molecular phenotype of AR– PCa cells,” The Prostate, 78(8), 595-606, 2018. (PMID: 29527701)
Smith, CM; Baker, RE; Proulx, MK; Mishra, BB; Long, JE; Park, SW; Lee, H; Kiritsy, MC; Bellerose, MM; Olive, AJ; Murphy, K; Papavinasasundaram, K; Boehm, F; Reames, C; Meade, RK; Hampton, BK; Linnertz, C; Ehrt, S; Schnappinger, D; de Villena, FPM; Ferris, MT; Ioerger, TR; Sassetti, CM. “Host-pathogen genetic interactions underlie tuberculosis susceptibility in genetically diverse mice,” eLife, 2022. (PMID: 35112666)
HOBBIES
Singing, board games, knitting, learning new languages (coding and otherwise), and playing with her two birds
