Contact Info:
koetjen@umich.edu
5326 Med Sci 1
(734) 615-1902

Mentor: Colin Duckett, Ph.D.

Undergraduate Information:
B.S. University of Wisconsin – Madison
Mathematics, Chemistry, Biochemistry

Research Interests:

The focus of the Duckett laboratory is the study of apoptosis, a biochemically ordered process in which cells are induced to initiate a cellular suicide program in response to physiologic cues, cellular damage, or virus infection. In normal cells the apoptotic pathway is very tightly controlled, but deregulation of the cell death cascade contributes to the pathogenesis of many human diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and lymphoproliferative and autoimmune disorders. My project specifically studies X-linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis (XIAP) and its role in the development and progression of cancer.