Eleonora Market

B.S., Lamar University
The Double Life of AID: The Role in Antibody Diversification and Chromosomal Translocations
presented by F. Nina Papavasiliou

Mutations in the human genome are usually regarded as potentially terribly disastrous events that lead to inherited abnormalities as well as cancers. There are, however, certain processes in the body that have harnessed the power of mutation for beneficial purposes. Eleonora Market joined my lab in 2003 planning to study how mutations in antibodies allow them to specifically bind to invading organisms. I immediately knew I had a powerful spirit on my hands. Within a year or so in the lab, she had performed some of the key experiments proving that an enzyme known to be essential for antibody mutation was in fact on its own a DNA mutator.

This work garnered her first-authorship on a widely cited paper as well as much admiration among her peers. Eleonora was practically mobbed at meetings. Her remaining time in the lab was devoted to better understanding of the function of this mutator, both in vivo and in vitro and this was actually a very difficult project but she did persevere, thus demonstrating two of the key characteristics of a true scientist: Stick with the work, and know when the good stuff happens. After her success here, Eleonora has begun a new chapter as a medical student at Yale Medical School in New Haven to drive her research in a more clinically oriented direction. Those of us who know Eleonora will be eager to see what great things she comes up with in the years to come.