DR. CATHERINE SCHRANKEL

*** I opened my lab as an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology at San Diego State University August 2022!

...Please stay tuned for updates and links to my new lab website by ~Nov 2022 ***

I am a developmental biologist with a background in immunology.

I study the interface between the cellular defense systems of the developing embryo and its external environment.

As an NIH-funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California, San Diego), I focus on ABC transporters. I'm working to understand the roles of these membrane proteins in the protection and function of two very important cell types:

1) The gut epithelia, and their interactions with commensal or pathogenic microbes and natural products.

2) The primordial germ cell lineage (PGCs; the stem cells for egg and sperm).

I use basic model systems such as transgenic sea urchin embryos and human cell lines to explore the regulation, function and evolution of ABC transporter proteins in these cell types.

I am particularly interested in how low-dose yet chronic pollutants inhibit these transporters and may thus impact gut immunity and PGC development. This has widespread implications for animal adaptation, evolution, and human health. I am grateful for funding by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH F32 NRSA Award).