Pedro N. Pozo, UNC graduate student in the Cook lab publishes his first-authored paper in Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC).
Currently In Press at Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC). The paper will be published in the December 2018 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell.
Pozo, P.N., Matson, J.P., Cole, Y., Kedziora, K.M., Grant, G.D., Temple, B., and J.G. Cook (2018) Cdt1 variants reveal unanticipated aspects of interactions with Cyclin/CDK and MCM important for normal genome replication. MBoC In Press doi: 10.1091/mbc.E18-04-0242 PMID: 30281379
https://www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/mbc.E18-04-0242
Pedro’s research in the Cook lab focuses on the initial step of DNA replication, known as origin licensing, a process that occurs during the G1 phase of the cell cycle and involves the loading of protein complexes onto chromatin. These complexes activate and unwind the DNA strands in the subsequent S phase in order for DNA replication to proceed. Pedro is particularly interested in elucidating the function and regulation of the protein factor, Cdt1, which is essential for origin licensing. Pedro also wrote a comprehensive review about Cdt1 – the review was published in the peer-reviewed journal Genes in 2016.
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/8/1/2
Pedro N. Pozo, under the direction of Dr. Jean Cook, successfully defended his dissertation on November 8th, 2018 and will receive his Ph.D. on December 16th, at fall graduation.
Pedro’s dissertation title is “Determining the Cellular and Molecular Consequences of Naturally-Occurring and Engineered Mutations in the Cell Cycle Gene Cdt1”
Pedro did his undergraduate work at Eastern Connecticut State University earing a B.S. degree in Biology with a minor in Biochemistry. Subsequently, Pedro earned a Masters degree from Central Connecticut State University in Biomolecular Sciences before obtaining his Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology at UNC. He is currently pursuing career opportunities in industry.
Congratulations Pedro N. Pozo!