Rachel Patton McCord

Harvard Medical School New Research Building Room 466

77 Ave Louis Pasteur

Boston, MA 02115

(617)-525-4754

rpmccord@fas.harvard.edu

 

Education                                                                                                                             

Ph.D. candidate               Biophysics                                                                  2004-present

Harvard University            Cambridge, MA

Relevant coursework:  Computational Systems Biology, Systems Cell Biology, Systems Analysis with Physiological Applications, Structural Biology from Molecules to Cells, Frontiers in Biophysics: single molecule experimental approaches, Computational Neuroscience, Cellular Basis of Neuronal Function

           

B.S. summa cum laude   Biophysics                                                                  2000-2004

Davidson College             Davidson, NC

Relevant coursework:  Genomics Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Programming and Problem Solving: Java, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Statistical and Thermal Physics, Electricity and Magnetism, Electronics and Instrumentation, Intermediate Mechanics, Modern Physics, Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Inorganic/Analytical Chemistry

 

Research Experience                                                                                                         


Graduate Thesis Research:                                                                     Nov 2005 - present

     Transcription factors and regulation of gene expression

Genetics Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Advisor: Dr. Martha Bulyk

Research Focus: Computational and statistical analysis of gene expression data and transcription factor binding site data from protein binding microarrays to investigate the biological roles of transcription factors and to elucidate potential biological networks.  Future research will include detailed study of cis-regulatory modules controlling genes involved in human muscle cell development. 

 

Graduate Research Rotation:                                                                  June – Sept 2005

     Reticulon proteins and ER network formation

Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School

Advisor: Dr. Tom Rapoport

Research Focus: Mechanisms of the formation and maintenance of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) tubular network structure.  Live cell imaging of GFP constructs of membrane proteins Sec61 and reticulon to analyze ER dynamics and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to study protein mobility and potential complex formation in the membrane. 

 

Graduate Research Rotation:                                                                 Oct 2004 - Jan 2005

     Mechanical properties of the hair cells of the inner ear

            Neuroscience Program, Harvard Medical School

Advisor: Dr. David Corey

Research Focus: Analyzing the mechanical properties and responses of inner ear hair cells of the inner ear using optical tweezers to deflect the hair bundles from a bullfrog saccule.  Investigating questions of the mechanisms of frequency selectivity and adaptation in hearing.

 

Independent Undergraduate Thesis Research:                                          2003-2004

     Measuring biological forces with optical tweezers

Physics, Biology Departments, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Davidson College

Advisors: Dr. Karen Bernd and Dr. John Yukich

Research Focus: Design, construction, and calibration of an optical tweezers laser trap apparatus and the use of this trap to measure the swimming force exerted by the unicellular flagellated algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.  The swimming force was used to study the function of dynein proteins in flagellar force exertion and the dynamics of flagellar assembly.

 

Visiting Research Student                                                                      July 2003

     Design and optimization of a laser trap (optical tweezers)                                                         Atomic Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Advisor: Dr. Kris Helmerson

Research Focus: Aligning two traps in a dual-laser optical tweezers apparatus and

achieving high quality trapping of polystyrene microspheres. 

 

University of Tennessee Science Alliance Program                                  June-August 2002

     Microcantilever-based calorimetric spectroscopy with biological applications

Engineering Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Advisor: Dr. Panos Datskos

Research Focus: Calorimetric spectroscopy: a mechanical method for obtaining the infrared spectra of molecules using microcantilevers, and its applications in identifying very small quantities of different species of bacteria and distinguishing between DNA from different sources.  This method has potential uses in small and highly sensitive biological detectors.

 

Higher Education Research Experience                                                  June-August 2001

     Genetic characterization of woody plants for use as bioenergy crops

Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL

Advisors: Lee Gunter and Dr. Gerry Tuskan

Research Focus: Bulked segregant analysis with random primer PCR to search for regions in the willow genome (Salix eriocephala and Salix matsudana) that segregate with the phenotypes of gender or stem shape using random primer PCR.  The research confirmed a candidate gene for gender determination and identified a region potentially involved in corkscrew vs. straight stem determination. 


 

Publications  and Presentations                                                                                       

Publications:

McCord RP, Berger, MF, Philippakis AA, Bulyk ML. Inferring condition-specific transcription factor function from DNA binding sites and gene expression. (submitted).

 

McCord RP, Yukich JN, Bernd KK. (2005)  Analysis of Force Generation during Flagellar Assembly through Optical Trapping of Free Swimming Chlamydomonas.  Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton 61: 137-144.

 

Gunter LE, Kopp RF, McCord RP, Tuskan GA. (2003). Analysis of Sex-Linked, Sequence- Characterized Amplified Region Markers in Salix eriocephala.  Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33: 1785-1790.

 

Presentations:

March 24, 2006: “Predicting Yeast Transcription Factor Function from DNA Binding Specificities and Expression Data”  Presented at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meeting on Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression.  Cold Spring Harbor, NY

 

April 29, 2004: “The Swimming force of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: measurement with optical tweezers.”  Presented at the North Carolina Academy of Science Annual Meeting. 

 

February 15, 2004: “Optical Tweezers and Biological Forces: Using a Laser Trap to Measure the Swimming Force Exerted by the Flagella of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society at both the Undergraduate Symposium and an appropriate poster session.  Baltimore, MD

 

November 6, 2003: “The Design and Construction of an Optical Tweezers Laser Apparatus to Measure Piconewton Scale Biological Forces.”  Presented at the Society of Physics Students Poster Session at the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS) meeting.   Wilmington, NC.

 

Honors and Awards                                                                                                             

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship                                                                    2004-2007        

Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (Harvard University)                                        2006    

Sigma Xi (scientific research honor society)                                                          2004    

North Carolina Academy of Science Derieux Award for excellence              2004    

            in undergraduate research

Phi Beta Kappa (Davidson College)                                                                      2004

Frontis W. Johnston Thesis Award (Davidson College)                                           2004

Physics Award (Davidson College)                                                                       2004

First honors (valedictorian)  (Davidson College)                                                     2004

2nd place Marsh White Award for an Undergraduate Poster Presentation                 2003    

at SESAPS (Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society)

Sigma Pi Sigma (physics honor society)                                                              2002