Guillermina 'Gigi' Lozano is an American geneticist. She is a professor at
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...
. Lozano is recognised for her studies of the
p53
p53, also known as Tumor protein P53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins (originally thought to be, and often s ...
tumour suppressor pathway, characterising the protein as a regulator of gene expression (
transcription factor
In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The f ...
).
Early life and education
Lozano was born in
East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...
, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She attended a private Catholic high school, Bishop Noll, up until her senior year, when her family moved to McAllen, Texas.
Lozano completed a Bachelor of Science in biology and mathematics, graduating Magna Cum Laude, at Pan American University (now
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with multiple campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and is the southernmost member of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas ...
) in 1979. She earned a doctor of philosophy in biochemistry from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
and
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States.
It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...
in 1986. Lozano's dissertation was titled ''Isolation, characterization and analysis of the gene encoding the Alpha 2 type IX collagen polypeptide''. She completed postgraduate training in molecular biology at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
from 1985 to 1987.
Career and research
Lozano is Professor and Chair of the Department of Genetics at
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...
Mdm4
Protein Mdm4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MDM4'' gene.
Function
The human MDM4 gene, which plays a role in apoptosis, encodes a 490-amino acid protein containing a RING finger domain and a putative nuclear localization sig ...
. Her lab has generated dozens of mouse models of ''p53'' to explore effects of mutations in this tumor-suppressing protein on tumorogeneis.
National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
* 2018 - E.E Just Lecture Award,
The American Society for Cell Biology
The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a professional society that was founded in 1960.National Academy of Sciences
* 2014 - Elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences
* 2013 - AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship. The award is presented by the American Association for Cancer Research to an outstanding scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of cancer and who has, through leader or by example, furthered the advancement of women in science.
* 2011 - AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cook Wright Memorial Lectureship, an award that recognises an outstanding scientist who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research."AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Memorial Lectureship Recipients" ''American Association for Cancer Research''