Graduate Student - Ph.D.

Translational Biology & Molecular Medicine

Lester & Sue Smith Breast Care Center

Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX)

Steffi Oesterreich

Identifying and functionally testing common genetic variants which modify an individual's risk to hormone related diseases (breast cancer, prostate cancer, and osteoporosis).

My research is based on the identification and functional characterization of common, germline genetic variations that modify a person's risk to disease or drug based therapy - primarily with respect to hormone driven diseases. We have focused on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes critical for the proper action of hormone receptors, but have also done some work with copy number variations (CNVs). Our aim is to identify the consequences - in a molecular biology sense - of these genetic variations in order to give definitive evidence that a clinical association is indeed real.

2007-2008 BCM Graduate Student Council, President

2009 2nd Place, Oral Presentation, BCM TBMM Annual Research Conference

2009 3rd Place, Oral Presentation, BCM LSSBC Annual Research and Education Program

2009 1st Place, Poster Presentation, Nuclear Receptor Program, BCM DLDCC Annual Cancer Symposium

2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Basic Science Scholars scholarship

2008-2011 DoD BCRP Predoctoral Training Fellowship

2008 John R. Kelsey, Jr. Student Speaker Award, BCM

2005 Departmental Honors, Bioengineering, University of Washington

2004 Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Award