Gabby Budziszewski successfully defended her dissertation titled “Mechanisms of chromatin engagement by the Vaccinia-related kinase (VRK1) and M-phase phosphoprotein 8 (MPP8)” on March 23, 2022 , under the direction of Dr. Robert McGinty.
Gabby earned her B.S. in biochemistry from Canisius College in 2016 where she worked with Dr. Sarah Evans to investigate the metal binding properties of the Borrelia oxidative stress regulator (BosR) transcription factor in Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
(left to right) Dr. Rob McGinty and Gabby Budziszewski PhD
In 2017, Gabby joined the lab of Rob McGinty in the Biochemistry track of BCBP. Her graduate work sought to better understand how proteins that perform genome-templated processes recognize the fundamental repeating unit of chromatin, the nucleosome. Specifically, Gabby characterized an interaction between the Vaccinia-related kinase (VRK1) and the nucleosome, showing that chromatin binding of this protein during mitosis depends upon nucleosome acidic patch binding by the kinase. She also collaborated with the Ingerman James group in the CICBDD to solve the structure of the MPP8 chromodomain in complex with peptidomimetic and small-molecule ligands that are now being evaluated for their efficacy in therapies for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
McGinty Lab
During her time at UNC, Gabby served on the executive board for the Science Writing and Communication (SWAC) group at UNC and helped publish a student-run science communication blog. She also took part in diversity efforts at the departmental level, joining the first cohort of the BCBP Diversity committee. Gabby helped found BBSP-BET (BBSP-BIPOC Equity Together), a grassroots student movement that works with the administration within the UNC School of Medicine to improve the racial equity climate in the biomedical research community at UNC.
