Dan Pollard
Assistant Professor
Educational & Professional Experience
University of California, Berkeley 2001-2007 Ph.D in Biophysics with a designated emphasis in Computational & Genomic Biology. Mentored by Michael B. Eisen and committee members Montgomery Slatkin & Ian Holmes. Areas of specialization: Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Genetics, & Developmental Biology
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 1994-1998 B.A. in Mathematics with a minor in Biology, Magna cum laude honors
Selected Awards & Honors
Research Interests
Interests
We study the causes of cellular trait variation. Our primary system is mating pheromone induced cell differentiation in budding yeasts (i.e. baker’s yeast). We use a broad array of techniques from genome editing to fluorescence microscopy to computer modeling. Much of our work focuses on RNA and protein metabolism. Current student projects include:
- Molecular mechanisms of natural variation in protein production and degradation
- Genomic analysis of RNA interference pathway proteins
- Inhibition of CRISPR Cas-9 by nucleosomes
- Influences of genetic and environmental variables on the kinetics of cell differentiation
- Diversity and substrate specialization of yeast species in Whatcom county (outreach project w/ local middle schools)
Current Lab Members
Tanner Thuet-Davenport, Graduate Researcher (Projects: Genetic mapping of modifiers of FIG1 protein expression)
Anastacia Wienecke, Graduate Researcher (Projects: Modeling impact of polymorphisms on protein production and degradation)
Gaea Turman, Undergraduate Researcher (Projects: Inhibition of CRISPR Cas-9 by nucleosomes)
Garrett Strawn, Undergraduate Researcher (Projects: Measuring cis-acting and trans-acting genetic impacts on protein expression)
Benjamin Haagen, Graduate Researcher (Projects: Genetic mapping of protein expression modifiers)
Sam Herr, Undergraduate Researcher (Projects: Estimating protein production and degradation rate variation using mass-action models)
Former Lab Members
Chayse Jones (currently Research Assistant in Michael Matthay's lab at University of California San Francisco)
Tiara Johnson (currently Mentor at WWU Campus Christian Fellowship)
Brian Miller (currently Research Assistant in Don Conrad's lab at Oregon Health Sciences University)
Halley Steiner (currently Research Assistant in Roy Parker's lab at UC Boulder)
Yuli Buckley (currently PhD student at Case Western Reserve University)
Shelby Duffy (currently Undergraduate Student at WWU)
Ciara Asamoto (currently PhD student in Sebastian Kopf's lab at UC Boulder)
Emma Ciechanowski (currently Research Assistant at Seattle Genetics)
Austin Abendroth (currently Field Instructor for Second Natural Wilderness Family Therapy)
Homa Rahnamoun (currently PhD Student in Shannon Lauberth's lab at UCSD)
Daniel Cohen (currently Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company)
Genny Gould (currently Computational Biologist at Counsyl)
Positions
I am currently recruiting undergraduate and masters graduate students to our team.
- WWU undergraduates seeking research experience who have at least one year until graduation are encouraged to apply via email with a brief description of interests and a transcript copy.
- Masters program applications are officially due February 1st however you are very strongly encouraged to email me prior to applying so that your application is given proper consideration. Follow these links for information about the Masters in Biology and the Application.
Collaborators
Biography
Recent Publications
Turman G, Pollard DA (2019). NucJuke: A tool for re-ranking gRNAs based on chromatin accessibility for CRISPR-Cas9 Experiments in yeast. http://nucjuke.biol.wwu.edu