Gabrielle Cole

Class of 2020

Education: BS in Biochemistry at Stonehill College; MS in Biological Sciences at Cal Poly

 

Biography

Gabrielle is excited about the opportunities that exist within stem cell research to create increasingly complex and transplantable human organs within our lifetime. Specifically, she is interested in applications of cardiovascular tissue engineering, particularly the synthesis of an artificial heart. Following the program, Gabrielle is considering a research position studying transplantation of artificial tissues or pursing a PhD in biomedical engineering. As a former educator, she is also passionate about performing outreach at local schools to promote the wide range of opportunities that exist within the engineering field.

Gabby chose to intern at Genentech in the Investigative Toxicology lab under Aaron Fullerton and Will Proctor. She studied how iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes can be used to evaluate pro-arrhythmia risk of novel compounds. Former studies, mandated by the FDA, focused only on a single ion channel (hERG), that when blocked, can cause fatal arrhythmias. However, newer research has shown that compounds that block multiple ion channels do not have this risk, thus leading to a shift in the screening paradigm. Gabby's study aimed to determine what proportion of hERG blocking compounds within Genentech's diverse chemical space hit not just the hERG channel but also one of the compensatory ion channels (sodium or calcium), which would likely eliminate their cardiotoxicity risk. This means these compounds could be advanced for the first time, expanding the chemical classes available for pharmaceutical research and development.