معرفی
Shanen M. Sherrer serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Her research focuses on the biological effects of toxic metals on DNA repair mechanisms, particularly examining how environmental contaminants impact human health at the molecular level.
Dr. Sherrer's research interests center on understanding the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair systems and how toxic metals like cadmium disrupt these critical cellular processes. Her work bridges biochemistry, toxicology, and cancer research, with particular emphasis on human DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathways. She investigates how exposure to environmental toxins leads to increased genetic mutations and potentially cancer development, contributing valuable knowledge to environmental safety regulations and cancer treatment development.
Her research output demonstrates a strong focus on the intersection of environmental toxicology and molecular biology, with particular attention to how cadmium exposure inhibits key DNA repair proteins like MutLα. This work establishes important connections between environmental exposure and genomic instability.
Dr. Sherrer leads an active research laboratory where current students are investigating cadmium's impact on multiple DNA repair proteins across different DNA repair systems. Her collaborative work with Nobel Laureate Paul Modrich on cadmium's effects on human DNA mismatch repair represents significant recognition of her research contributions.
Her laboratory serves as a training ground for undergraduate researchers at St. Mary's College of Maryland, providing hands-on research experience in biochemical techniques while addressing important questions at the interface of environmental science and human health.
