Dr. Vinnedge tests novel breast cancer therapeutics and works to identify biomarkers of disease and disease progression from patient samples.

Emily earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of Louisville in 2021. Her doctoral research focused on mapping mammary cancer susceptibility loci in the rat genome and mechanistic analysis of candidate susceptibility genes. Emily joined the Privette Vinnedge lab to continue her training in rodent mammary gland biology and tumorigenesis as a translational model of human breast disease. She is using murine models of mammary gland-specific DEK over-expression and DEK loss to characterize the molecular and functional consequences of altered DEK expression in mammary epithelium.

Allie Greene graduated from Virginia Tech with BS degrees in Biological Sciences and Psychology. She is currently a PhD student in the Neuroscience program at UC. Allie joined the Privette Vinnedge lab in February of 2019 and is co-mentored by behavioral neuroscientist Matia Solomon, PhD. She uses cell culture and murine models to study the role of the DEK protein and cooperating environmental and biological factors, such as stress or sex hormones, in the development and progression of dementia.

Lois Parks has a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Cedarville University. In 2019, she joined the Privette Vinnedge lab as a research assistant. She uses 3D cell culture and murine models to explore the functional significance of Wnt expression for DEK-induced oncogenic phenotypes.

Miranda Shephard has a BS in biological sciences from Northern Kentucky University and joined the lab in 2016 as a research assistant. She uses cell culture and mouse models to study the oncogenic roles of DEK and how DEK expression creates downstream paracrine signals to create a pro-tumorigenic micro environment.