Dr. Mary Elizabeth Mathyer

Seminar Title: Elucidating Enhancer Function in Epidermal Development

Biography

Dr. Mary Elizabeth Mathyer received her B.A. in Biology and Theatre Arts from Kalamazoo College in 2014. After graduation, Dr. Mathyer joined the Molecular Genetics and Genomics program in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Mathyer recently defended her thesis work conducted in the lab of Dr. de Guzman Strong on November 18th 2019. Her work utilized in vivo genome editing and genomics approaches to elucidate the function of an epidermal-specific enhancer. She also identified population-specific, novel loss-of-function variants in a skin barrier gene, filaggrin, in African American pediatric patients who suffer from the skin disease Atopic Dermatitis.
Throughout her PhD, Dr. Mathyer mentored numerous graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in her lab. She also served as a co-leader of the YSP Continuing Mentoring Program for 4 years at the Collegiate School for Medicine and Biosciences.