JoAnna Dennis

Ambitious Medical Student with sound knowledge of anatomy and physiology with an understanding of medical terminology. Strong leadership abilities with a passion for learning new tasks and concepts quickly. Excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational talents.

• Elementary School Volunteer
• Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. | Vice President
• Meharry BS/MD program
• LSAMP Scholar
• Vanderbilt University Aspirnaut Program

• STEM Day Symposium | First Place
• VSSA Symposium Poster Session
• Aspirnaut Oral Presentation Session

Bioinformatics Project: The analysis of protein variant structures that can cause Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or CPVT. I search for lesser-known variants and use software to determine the shape of the variant and if it is likely to be pathogenic or benign. The Role of Epithelial Plasticity in Pancreatic Tumorigenesis, The analysis of the genes SPP1 and SPDEF and their role in the formation of pancreatic cancer precursor lesions PanINs and IPMNs. I used genetically engineered mice both with and without SPP1 with a KRAS mutation for PanIN lesions and an IPMN murine cell line, where CRISPR technology was used to conduct a knockout.