Genetic Resource Science team

Leah Rae DonahueLeah Rae Donahue, Director, GRS, Senior Research Scientist
A researcher renowned for her work in skeletal morphology and craniofacial defects, Dr. Donahue also directs the Genetic Resource Science (GRS) team in developing and distributing new mouse models of human diseases and other innovative research tools to the worldwide scientific community. She has extensive experience with all aspects of mouse husbandry, including stabilizing strain backgrounds and characterizing spontaneous mutations.

David BergstromDavid Bergstrom, Research Scientist, Model Development
Dr. Bergstrom's scientific focus is on the development of mouse models of human disease, with particular interest in vestibular disorders and Costello Syndrome. He is formally trained in molecular genetics and has expertise in general molecular biology, positional cloning and transgenesis, as well as gene trap-, traditional- and conditional-gene targeting techniques.

Muriel DavissonMuriel Davisson, Professor, Model Development
Dr. Davisson developed the Ts65Dn mouse model for Down syndrome and continues to consult frequently with scientists using Ts65Dn mice. Her other major research area is analysis of spontaneous mutation mice to develop mouse models for human conditions due to single gene mutations. She has expertise in mouse genetics, linkage analysis, cytogenetics and mouse husbandry.

Cat LutzCathleen Lutz, Research Scientist, Repository Director
Dr. Lutz's research focus is mouse models of neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders. She works closely with disease foundations to develop, characterize and validate mouse models that support their research and drug discovery goals; examples are Spinal Muscular Atrophy, ALS, Friedreich's Ataxia, Muscular dystrophy and Rett syndrome. She has expertise in neuromuscular disorders, mammalian genetics and mouse husbandry.

Judy MorganJudy Morgan, Manager, Program Development
Judy Morgan develops and implements new GRS research programs.  She is responsible for the execution of GRS research projects and oversees project management activity.

 

 

Steve MurrayStephen Murray, Research Scientist, Science Development
Dr. Murray specializes in the genetic analysis of mutant developmental phenotypes.  He leads GRS efforts to develop, characterize and provide Cre driver lines to the research community, applying his expertise in construct preparation and pipeline development, as well as ES cell derivation. He also spearheads the FaceBase repository, which provides models for orofacial clefting research, including genetically engineered, spontaneously occurring, and ENU-induced mutant mice.

Laura ReinholdtLaura Reinholdt, Research Scientist, Technology Development
Dr. Reinholdt leads the initiative to develop ES cells from genetically engineered and inbred mouse strains, introducing innovative techniques for the derivation of ES cells from strains that have been previously deemed recalcitrant to such efforts. She is also developing a high-throughput sequencing pipeline for the identification and characterization of new spontaneous and induced mutants. Dr. Reinholdt's research interests include germ cell development, meiosis, aneuploidy, and reproductive genomics.

Mike SasnerMichael Sasner, Research Scientist, Neurobiology, Bioinformatics
Dr. Sasner is responsible for the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease mouse model resources, and for the neurobiology tools strains resource, which provides mice that express Cre, GFP, or other effector or reporter proteins in the brain.  He also oversees curation and development of the JaxMice database, and coordinates the provision of information on Repository strains to researchers.

Steve RockwoodStephen Rockwood, Manager, Model Acquisition
Steve Rockwood manages the acquisition of new strains for the GRS Repository, working with a team of scientific curators. Rockwood and his group work with Donating Investigators to shepherd new strains through the importation process, cataloging critical information on each strain for future researchers to use.