Kimberly Monahan , Ph.D.

kpeterma@email.unc.edu

Pharmacology and Lineberger Cancer Center

Education

• UNC Chapel Hill
  Genetics and Molecular Biology

Mentors

Channing Der, Ph.D. and Dave Reiner, Ph.D.

Biography

Since high school, I have always been interested in life sciences and took as many life science classes as possible.  At the University of Georgia, I majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  Through this program I was able to work in two labs, Dr. Marly Eidsness’ and Dr. Andrew Patterson’s.  While the two labs were very different, they taught many valuable lessons about being a scientist.  I decided to go to UNC-Chapel Hill for my graduate work where I joined the IBMS program.  While I had majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I still did not know what field I wanted to go into, joining IBMS allowed me to rotate in whatever lab I was interested in regardless of their department.  I ended up in the Genetics curriculum working in Dr. Norman Sharpless’ lab on developing mouse models of melanoma to better understand the role of p16 in melanoma.

During my graduate career at UNC I took advantage of many career development opportunities to determine what I wanted to do in science.  After a career workshop, I realized that my real passion in life is education.  In science there are many ways to incorporate education, such as teaching at the bench, in the classroom, as well as doing outreach in the community.  At UNC I taught several classes with Dr. Pat Pukkila which focused on interactive learning.  Watching the students work with each other, as well as, learn from each other was amazing.  Moreover, being involved in their learning rather than talking at them was very enjoyable for me.  While teaching in the classroom is a very valuable tool for learning science, working at the bench is very important in obtaining a deeper understanding of how science really works. It allows you to ask science questions and develop creative ways to answer them.  During my time in the lab, I was able to mentor an undergraduate student.  Being able to watch her develop scientifically and develop critical thinking skills was awesome.  It was very rewarding to help her earn a position in the NIH Postbaccalaureate IRTA program. At UNC I began developing many skills that focused on teaching, mentoring and outreach and through the SPIRE fellowship program I will be able to continue developing these skills. 

My current research project is based on deciphering the role of RAL-GEF (RGL-1) in vulva development in C.elegans.  I am very excited to learn a new model organism; however it is going to be a big adjustment from working with mice.  I am very excited to be a part of the SPIRE fellowship program and look forward to developing ways to incorporate interactive learning in the classroom and at the bench.