News Story

Corina Anastasaki, PhD Promoted to Senior Research Scientist

Corina Anastasaki, PhD has recently been promoted to the role of Senior Research Scientist in the Gutmann laboratory. Dr. Anastasaki completed her undergraduate Honours studies in Genetics at the University of York and her Masters of Science training at Edinburgh University. For her PhD, she worked in the laboratory of Dr. E. Elizabeth Patton, where she developed zebrafish models of the rare pediatric genetic condition, Cardiofaciocutaneous Syndrome (CFC).
Because CFC syndrome and Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) are both characterized by increased activity of the RAS protein, Dr. Anastasaki joined Dr. Gutmann’s laboratory in 2012 to develop NF1 patient induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. iPSCs can be converted into nearly every cell type in the body, allowing her to study the impact of NF1 gene mutations on human brain nerve cell function. The repository of NF1-iPSCs she generated has become an invaluable resource tool for the NF research community, both at Washington University and internationally.
In January 2017, Dr. Anastasaki was promoted to a new position in the NF Center. While she will remain active in fundamental laboratory research, she is also guiding the scientific direction of translational research in the Center, as well as training and supervising undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, Dr. Anastasaki has assumed public outreach responsibilities that aim to bring the scientific activities and advances in the NF Center to the public.