Tiffany Cook, PhD
Appointment
Assistant Professor
Email
tiffany.cook@cchmc.org
Phone
513-636-6991
Fax
513-803-0740
Credentials
BA: Biology, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa 1987-1991
PhD: Biomedical Sciences/Molecular Biology, 1991-1997
Postdoctoral research fellow: Gastroenterology, 1997-1999
Postdoctoral research fellow: Molecular Genetics, 1999-2004
Awards and Honors
- Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Research Center Summer Research Award, 1990
"Formation and Repair of Cytosine Photoproducts in Human Cells" - West Virginia Arts and Sciences Scholarship, 1990-91
- American Liver Foundation Research Fellowship, 1994
"Identification and Characterization of Dynamin Isoforms in Rat Liver" - American Society of Cell Biology Annual Meeting Travel Award, 1995
- American Society of Cell Biology Annual Meeting Travel Award, 1996
- NIH Institutional Postdoctoral NRSA, 1997-99
"Role of the Zinc Finger Transcription Factors TIEG1 and TIEG2 in Exocrine Pancreatic Cell Growth" - NIH Individual Postdoctoral NRSA, 2000-2003
"Regulation of Rhodopsin Gene Expression in Drosophila melanogaster" - E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation for the Blind, Inc Career Developement Award, 2005-2007
- Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award, 2005-2008
- NSF/ASHG/GSA Geneticist-Educator Network Alliance, selected participant, 2008
- AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Professional Development, 2009
Research
Cell Type Specification During Eye Development
Our lab is interested in understanding the molecular basis of eye development, and how these processes are disrupted in disease states. Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model, we combine cellular, molecular, biochemical, and genetic approaches to dissect the events underlying the development of the retina. These studies have led to the finding that many of the same factors involved in retinogenesis in the fly are also necessary for vertebrate eye development. For instance, Crx/Otd is a transcription factor necessary for photoreceptor differentiation in flies, mice, and humans, and mutations in this gene are responsible for retinal dystrophic diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), Leber amaurosis, and cone-rod dystrophy. Thus, our studies will not only help to understand basic developmental questions related to how different cell types arise and the conservation of retinal cell type differentiation across species, but should also aid us in developing tools for fighting otherwise blinding human diseases.
Areas of research include:
- Differentiation of color photoreceptor subtypes in the Drosophila retina
- Cell-specific regulation of opsin gene expression
- Mechanisms of cell-specific transcriptional activation and repression
Visit the Cook Lab.
Publications, Most Recent
Lomberk G, Imoto I, Gebelein B, Urrutia R, and Cook TA. Conservation of the TGF[beta]/labial Homeobox signaling loop in endoderm-derived cells between Drosophila and mammals.Pancreatology 2010.
Maksimovic S, Cook TA, Buschbeck E. Spatial distribution of opsin encoding mRNAs in the tiered larval retinas of the Sunburst Diving Beetle Thermonectus marmoratus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae).J Exp Biol, 212:3781-94, 2009
Li-Kroeger D, Witt LM, Grimes HL, Cook TA, Gebelein B. Hox and Senseless antagonism functions as a molecular switch to regulate EGF secretion in the Drosophila PNS. Dev Cell 15:298-308, 2008
Mazzoni EO, Celik A, Wernet MW, Vasiliauskas D, Cook TA, Johnston RJ, Pichaud F, Desplan C. Iroquois-Complex genes induce co-expression of visual pigments in Drosophila. PLoS Biology 6(4):e97, 2008
Ranade SS, Yang-Zhou D, Kong SW, McDonald EC, Cook TA, and Pignoni F. Analysis of the Otd-dependent transcriptome supports the evolutionary conservation of CRX/OTX/OTD functions in flies and vertebrates.Dev Biol 315(2):521-34, 2008.
Xie B, Charlton-Perkins M, McDonald EC, Gebelein B, Cook TA. Senseless functions as a molecular switch for color photoreceptor differentiation in Drosophila.Development 134:4243-4253, 2007.
Jackowska M, Bao R, Liu Z, McDonald EC, Cook TA, and Friedrich M. Replacement and loss of blue sensitive photoreceptors through expansion of green and UV-green double sensitive photoreceptors in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneu.BMC Frontiers in Zoology 4:24, 2007
Neve C, Fernandez-Zapico ME, Ashkenazi-Katalan V, Dina C, Hamid YH, Joly E, Vaillant E, Benmezrona Y, Durand E, Bakaher N, Delannoy V, Vaxillnire M, Cook T, Dallina-Thie GM, Jansen H, Charles MA, Clement K, Galan P, Hercberg S, Helgecque N, Charpentier G, Prentki M, Hansen T, Perdersen O, Urrutia R, Melloul D. Role of transcription factor KLF11 and its diabetes-associated gene variants in pancreatic b-cell function. PNAS 2005;102:4807-12.
Cao S, Fernandez-Zapico ME, Jin D, Puri V, Cook TA, Lerman LO, Zhu XY, Urrutia R, Shah V. KLF11-mediated repression antagonizes Sp1/sterol-responsive element-binding protein-induced transcriptional activation of caveolin-1 in response to cholesterol signaling.J Biol Chem 2005;280:1901-10.
Presentations, Most Recent
2007
University of Delaware, Department of Biology, Newark DE
Midwest Annual Meeting for Orthoptists, Covington KY
West Virginia University, Department of Biology, Morgantown WV
Wayne State University, Department of Biological Sciences
U.S. - Japan Cooperative Cataract Research Conference, Kona HI
2008
University of Utah, Neurobiology & Anatomy, Salt Lake City UT
ARVO Sunday Symposium, Ft Lauderdale FL
SUNY Upstate, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Syracuse NY
2009
University of Idaho, Department of Biological Sciences, Moscow ID
University of Dayton, Department of Biology, Dayton OH
Indiana University, Department of Biology, Bloomington IL
Great Lakes Vision Research Conference, Columbus OH
2010
Gordon Research Conference on Visual System Development, Il Ciocco Italy
International Congress of Eye Research, Montreal Canada
Professional Organization Memberships
Contact Us
The Cook laboratory is part of the Division of Developmental Biology and the Department of Ophthalmology at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation and the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine. Our lab is located in Location R (Research Foundation Building), Room 2461.
Postdoctoral and graduate students are welcome and encouraged to apply. For more information, please contact Tiffany Cook at 513-636-6991.
Related Areas
This person works in these other areas at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical
Center:
