Kristen Beck
BMCDB Graduate Student
Biography
Kristen is a fourth-year PhD Candidate (anticipated graduation Dec. 2015) in the Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (BMCDB) Graduate Group at the UC Davis Genome Center. Kristen developed a passion for science at an early age, but learned to code only once joining the Korf lab in 2011. Since then, her curiosity for all things technical has truly exploded. Her research centers on understanding the complex composition of milk at the proteomic and transcriptomic levels in multiple mammalian species: human, macaque, gorilla, cow and pig. This research involves the development of experimental and bioinformatic methods. Specifically, she has developed a small-volume proteomics method that has already shown to increase the number of unique proteins identified in human and macaque milk. She is also investigating an RNA-Seq guided proteomics method to increase the understanding of milk's comprehensive protein contents. She is a NIH T32 Biotechnology Fellow and an active member of the Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology Program.
Kristen is often involved in the regional scientific and technical communities especially for young researchers. She served as the 2013 Summer Immersion Program Instructor for Girls Who Code and is currently an NSF Portal to the Public Network Science Communications Fellow at the Powerhouse Science Center. When she is not in the lab, Kristen enjoys DIY projects, running, and spending time with her family.
Research Interests
Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Milk Biology
Publications
- Beck, KL., Turco, GM., Bradnam, KR., Rijnkels, M., Nommsen-Rivers, L., Korf, I., Lemay, DG. Adjustment of RNA-Seq data for effect of highly abundant transcripts: a case study in milk production. BMC Bioinformatics. (in submission)
- Beck, KL. Top 10 of the 10th International Milk Genomics Consortium Symposium. SPLASH! Milk Science Update. November 2013
- Mouradian, M., Kikawa, KD., Johnson, ED., Beck, KL., Pardini RS. Key roles for GRB2-associated-binding protein 1, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, cyclooxygenase 2, prostaglandin E2 and transforming growth factor-alpha in linoleic acid-induced upregulation of lung and breast cancer cell growth Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2013 Dec 11
Contact info:
kristenbeck527 at gmail dot com
twitter.com/theladybeck
http://www.kristenbeck.co
Korf Lab in the news
Jun 26, 2015: Keith Bradnam is interviewed by Frontline Genomics Magazine about his life in Bioinformatics.
Apr 8, 2015: Ian Korf is quoted in a Nature commentary article about Bioinformatics Service cores and the need for beter career paths for bioinformaticians.
Mar 16, 2015: Danielle Lemay is interviewed by the UC Davis News team about the new publication by herself, Kristen Beck (lead author), Ian Korf and others that describes new milk proteomes for human and macaque.
Apr 22, 2013: The Assemblathon 2 paper has won the 2013 BioMed Central Open Data award
Dec 10, 2013: A short piece in the UC Davis Alumni Magazine that discusses the new Genomics undergraduate major that Ian Korf co-developed.
Nov 26, 2013: Ian Korf writes a News & Views piece for Nature Methods about two new comparisons of programs that work with RNA-seq data
Nov 1, 2013: Keith B. and Kristen are both featured in a piece on Inquiring Minds as part of the new One UC Davis campaign.
Quick Links
Unix & Perl for Biologists
Our free 175-page primer that teaches the basics of Unix & Perl
Unix & Perl to the RESCUE!
Our book that greatly expands on our free primer.
Bits & Bites
A regular discussion forum at the Genome Center for all things relating to sequence analysis
UC Davis Genome Center
Where we work
UC Davis Bioinformatics Core
Part of the Genome Center
Contact Us
For questions or comments about the website, please e-mail:
korflab AT ucdavis DOT edu
Contact information for specific members of our lab can be found on their personal pages.