Laura Dillon, PhD

Laura Dillon, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. Dr. Dillon completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology under the guidance of Dr. Yuh-Hwa Wang at Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC) and B.S. in Biochemistry at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA). Her Ph.D. thesis research focused on the mechanism of instability at chromosomal fragile sites through the study of RET/PTC rearrangements in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Her current postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Anindya Dutta focuses on examining and characterizing microDNA, a novel class of extrachromosomal circular DNA recently discovered in the Dutta lab, particularly in the context of normal versus malignant ovarian cancer cells. She hopes that these studies could lead to the discovery of a new blood-based biomarker for the early detection and prognostication of ovarian cancer.