Jamaica Siwak’s long-term goal is to address unmet needs in healthcare through the development of biological technologies. Her research interests include CRISPR-Cas genome editing and its application in biomedical research. Jamaica earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. As an undergraduate student, Jamaica held several internships in the biotechnology sector. After graduation, she worked as a research technician for several years at Boston University School of Medicine, Sanofi Corporation and Editas Medicine where her research experiences spanned basic science to pre-clinical drug development. Jamaica currently works in the lab of Shondra Pruett-Miller, PhD, in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the Center for Advanced Genome Engineering, where she is developing novel genome engineering strategies.
“From the expertise of our faculty to our outstanding research facilities, the science being conducted at St. Jude is unparalleled. I could not think of a more impactful and mission-driven institution to complete my PhD in Biomedical Sciences” she says.
Hometown: Topsfield, Massachusetts
Publications:
Shashar M., Siwak J., Tapan U., Lee S., Meyer R. D., Parrack P., Tan J., Khatami F., Francis J., Zhao Q., Hartshorn K., Kolachalama V. B., Rahimi N., et al c-Cbl mediates the degradation of tumorigenic nuclear β-catenin contributing to the heterogeneity in Wnt activity in colorectal tumors. Oncotarget. 2016; 7: 71136-71150. Retrieved from https://www.oncotarget.com/article/12107/