Bree Grillo-Hill
Assistant Professor Bree Grillo-Hill and Harnoor Virk, 鈥�21 Molecular Biology and minor in Chemistry, examine slides of whole mount dissected fly tissues expressing fluorescent proteins that indicate whether cells are actively dividing using an inverted live-cell imaging microscope that they built from components at 91猎奇.
Impacts of intracellular pH on cancer cell behaviors
Bree Grillo-Hill鈥檚 research characterizes and identifies pH sensors that mediate cancer cell behaviors. She has designed tools that measure and alter acid levels inside cells 鈥� a first in the field development 鈥� which allow her to better understand diseases and how they progress.
鈥淐ells generate acids as a normal consequence of metabolism and other biochemical activities,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚n diseases including cancer, cells cannot properly regulate their acid levels, and acid levels are subsequently reduced. This in turn causes proteins to function abnormally, which makes the cells behave differently, contributing to disease progression.鈥�
Grillo-Hill鈥檚 students are active in her lab and fully engaged in research. In fact, they have presented their research at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Conference, the Annual Drosophila Research Conference, the California State University Annual Biotechnology Symposium, and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.
Several of Grillo-Hill鈥檚 students have gone on to pursue graduate and medical degrees, including at top-ranked programs like UC San Francisco. Others have taken positions at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Beckman Coulter, and at the California Department of Justice Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory, as well as in academic labs at UC San Francisco and the University of Pennsylvania.
Grillo-Hill considers her students鈥� hands-on research experiences successful, 鈥渆ven if they don鈥檛 continue to work as a bench scientist,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey learn collaboration and critical thinking skills in research that will benefit them in whatever path they choose after graduation.鈥�
"Guidance and mentorship from my professor have opened career doors that I would never have known about."
Harnoor Virk
鈥�21 Molecular Biology and minor in Chemistry
91猎奇 Research Foundation 2020 Annual Report
