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Poenitzsch, Ashley
 Ashley Poenitzsch
PhD Candidate - Started Fall 2009
Madison, WI
Lab of Vladimir Spiegelman, PhD
Undergraduate & Graduate Work
University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009-2010)
MS-Molecular and Environmental Toxicology
University of Wisconsin-Madison (2006-2009)
BS-Biology
Interests/Hobbies
Cooking is one of my favorite things to do, next to eating the results! I also enjoy photography and taking a nice walk to get some great snapshots. Traveling is also a favorite hobby – Munich, Germany is one of the most fun and memorable places I have traveled to. Lastly, spending time with my boyfriend and family is also important to me.
Why I Joined METC
As an undergraduate, I attended UW-Madison and quickly fell in love with the city and the university. This program offered an excellent interdisciplinary center with a wide variety of research taking place, making it a very exciting and wonderful place to learn. The METC department felt like home to me and the program of study seemed to combine all of the subjects I studied in undergraduate and continued it a step further into one interesting overall subject, toxicology!
Research
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer originating in the melanocytes, or pigmented skin cells, of the epidermis. It occurs at a lower incidence rate than other skin cancers, but has a high mortality rate, making it the most lethal skin cancer diagnosed. Risk factors include exposure to UV radiation from sources such as sunlight and tanning beds, personal and family history, as well as skin type and characteristics. My current reasearch is devoted to characterizing a microRNA (miRNA)-dependent regulatory network that contributes to the development and progression of melanoma. Previous data from our lab implicates miR340 as a regulator of MITF (micropthalmia associated transcription factor). Therefore, I am working to identify additional targets of miR340 in order to unravel the pleiotropic effects of its regulatory network in hopes to understand how this contributes to the progression of the melanoma phenotype.
Publications- Poenitzsch, A.M., Setaluri, V., Spiegelman, V.S. (2011). (Mela)statin’ the not so obvious: tumor suppressor hidden in intron. Pigment Cell Melanoma Research. 24, 263-5
- Palmer, J.A., Poenitzsch, A.M., Smith, S.M., West, P.R., Cezar, G.G. Metabolic biomarkers of prenatal alcohol exposure. Under review
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