Aki Braceros successfully defended her dissertation under the direction of Dr. Mauro Calabrese on September 8, 2023, and she has received her PhD.
The title of her dissertation is “Epigenetic regulation of gene expression by long non-coding RNAs.”
Aki received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, where she studied the Wnt signaling pathway under Dr. Jeff Brown and pseudoacid chemistry under Dr. Ed Valente. After her undergraduate, she pursued a position as a Research Technician in the lab of Dr. Toshi Tsukiyama at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, WA. There, she studied chromatin regulation in cellular quiescence, which inspired her interests in chromatin and epigenetics. This led Aki to join BBSP at UNC-Chapel Hill to pursue her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology track, 2017). In Spring 2018, she joined the lab of Dr. Mauro Calabrese, whose research focuses on mechanisms of gene regulation by long non-coding RNAs. Aki’s training is primarily in genomics, bioinformatics, and molecular biology. Outside of lab, Aki enjoys exploring NC’s food culture and studying wine tasting.
After graduation, Aki will move to Germany, where she hopes to earn an industry position in Bioinformatics. She thanks BCBP for providing her a wonderful home for her development over the last six years and wishes everyone the very best.