Awarded in 2021
Home Department: Biology
Faculty Advisors: Jan Skotheim (Biology), Julien Sage (Pediatrics – Hematology & Oncology and Genetics), and Polly Fordyce (Bioengineering and Genetics)

Research Title: Controlling Cell Division by Disrupting the Cyclin D-Rb Interaction

Research Description: Dysregulation of G1/S proteins Cyclin D and Rb is a common attribute of most cancers thereby necessitating therapeutic intervention. Cecelia’s research aims to develop specific inhibitors targeting Cyclin D’s docking site to disrupt Rb binding using two approaches. The first approach involves leveraging the inhibitory properties of the Rb C-terminal helix to function as a competitive inhibitor. She will optimize the synthetic peptide inhibitor for potency and cell delivery. The second approach involves using the Stanford High-Throughput Bioscience Center to screen their ~130,000 compound library with an in vitro FRET assay to find small molecules that disrupt the Cyclin D-Rb interaction.