Cheri Schaaf
Ph.D. Biomedical Science

My path to SLU started at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.  I graduated from Calvin with honors in Biology and an interest in doing genetics research in an environment that would be both stimulating and challenging.  When I interviewed at SLU, I was impressed by the cutting-edge research, interested and involved faculty, and the commitment to training doctoral students who would move on from SLU to be successful, independent scientists themselves.  

As a first-year graduate student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department, I look forward to working to doing my doctoral research in the new Doisy Research Center.  I will be researching the molecular and genetic basis of human developmental disorders in the lab of Dr. Dale Dorsett, and particularly, will study the mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated by the molecular cohesin complex during development.  Certain components of the cohesin complex are mutated in the human developmental disorder Cornelia de Lange syndrome, which results in a wide variety of symptoms such as limb abnormalities and varying degrees of mental impairment.  The work I do as a graduate student at SLU will contribute toward understanding the basis for this and other diseases, and will help bring thousands of patients and their families one step closer to a cure.  During the next few years, I will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty members and learn from their years of research experience, and particularly, will have the chance to contribute to the knowledge base which they have already laid down as I develop my own thesis.

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