Mary Claire Hauer Research Specialist MHauer@som.umaryland.edu Education: Research Interests
BA Biology University of Maryland Baltimore County BS Electrical Engineering Johns Hopkins University
MS Biotechnology Johns Hopkins University I have been a part of Dr.Curt Civin’s lab for more than a year and a half as a Research Specialist. Previously, I had worked at the Johns Hopkins University in other research labs. Most of my work in the Civin lab has involved cloning inserts into the pcDNA3.1+ luciferase vector for the study of microRNAs in leukemia and hematopoiesis for Dr. Kara Scheibner. Recently, I have started doing transfections of the luciferase cloning vector into the leukemic cell line, K562, to see the effects of certain microRNAs on different genes in the Wnt pathway using the luciferase assay. I am also responsible for overseeing the equipment and supplies for the lab and to train new recruits in cloning.
Laboratory Experiences
Identified microsatellites in Culex tarsalis mosquito DNA to study genetic variation of West Nile virus transmission; implemented a new PCR method, the M13 tailed-primer, for screening a DNA library for new microsatellites; Johns Hopkins University, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology 2005 2007 Optimized salt concentration and pH in a non-homologous DNA end joining assay; screened experimental drugs from Cancer Research, UK for their ability to inhibit double-stranded DNA break repair in NHEJ; Johns Hopkins University, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2004-2005 Measured the protein expression of the tumor suppressor, pp32, in a carcinoma cell line; screened genomic DNA from cancer cell lines for mutations in the oncogene pp32r1; synthesized competitor RNA for use in quantitative RT-PCR; performed immunohistochemistry to localize the tumor suppressor, pp32, and oncogenes, pp32r1and pp32r2, in cancer tissue microarrays; Johns Hopkins University, Pathology 2002-2004 Responsible for making HL5 media, buffers and reagents, in a laboratory studying chemotaxis in the single-celled amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum; Johns Hopkins University, Biochemistry/Cell Biology
Publications
Brody JR, Kadkol SS, Hauer MC, Rajaii F, Lee J, Pasternack GR. pp32 Reduction Induces Differentiation of TSU-Pr1 Cells. Am J Path 2004, 164: 273-283. Rasgon JL, Venkatesan M, Westbrook CJ, Hauer MC. Polymorphic microsatellite loci from the West Nile virus vector Culex tarsalis. Mol. Ecol. Notes. 6: 680-682. Venkatesan M, Hauer MC and Rasgon JL Using the tailed-primer method to isolate 45 novel microsatellite loci from the arboviral vector Culex tarsalis. Med Vet Entomol. 2007 Jun;2 (2):204-8. Venkatesan M, Westbrook CJ, Hauer MC and Rasgon JL. Evidence for population expansion in the West Nile virus vector Culex tarsalis. 2007 May;24(5):1208-18