Meet the Lab
Amy Brock, Ph.D. Amy received a Ph.D. in Biomedical and Biological Sciences from Harvard University and a B.S. from MIT. She carried out postdoctoral work at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard and joined The University of Texas at Austin in 2013. Amy’s research interests include: cancer systems biology, heterogeneity and cell state plasticity, models of cancer progression and response to therapy. Outside the lab, you can find her sailing on Lake Travis with family, digging in the vegetable garden, playing board games, and just enjoying the antics of her five children.
Andrea (Didi) Gardner, Graduate Student. Didi joined the Brock Lab in 2019 as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering. She obtained her B.S. in Bioengineering:Biotechnology from UCSD, and then worked with Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University to develop low-cost diagnostic kits for virally-driven cancers. Her current research focuses on the integration of quantitative single cell technologies with mathematical modeling to better understand the fundamental drivers of tumor heterogeneity. Her work is focused on two questions: (1) Do unique phenotypes within clonally-derived cell populations interact? Viewing the tumor as an ecosystem of cells, she asks -- Are subpopulations of cells interacting with each other and if so, as friend or foe? And, (2) What is the role of cell-cell fusion in tumor growth, maintenance, and diversity? Cell-cell fusion is a fundamental biological process that was first noted in cancer in 1911, yet little progress has been made toward understanding its role in cancer. By combining live cell imaging, RNAseq, and mathematical modeling she seeks to reveal the story of the cancer fusion cell. Beyond the laboratory, Didi enjoys
being involved in legislative student orgs, kickboxing, biking, and fantasy RPGs
being involved in legislative student orgs, kickboxing, biking, and fantasy RPGs
Eric Brenner, Graduate Student. Eric joined the lab in the spring of 2018. He grew up in North Carolina, but completed his undergraduate studies in Ohio at the College of Wooster. Before starting grad school, he spent two years doing virology research at the NIH under the postbaccalaureate program. Since coming to UT, he has developed a passion for bioinformatics with a main focus on single cell transcriptomics.
