Thesis Thursday-Daniela Zarnescu & Abigail O’Conner

Daniela Zarnescu is a Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at University of Arizona. She studied Physics at University of Bucharest and received a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State where she became interested in studying human disease using molecular genetics approaches in the fruit fly Drosophila. Following postdoctoral training in human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, in 2006, she joined the faculty in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department at UofA where she continues to study RNA based mechanisms in aging and neurological diseases such as ALS. Her lab is a training ground for undergraduate and graduate students who are enthusiastic about research.

Abigail Grace O’Conner is a senior at the University of Arizona majoring in Molecular and Celluar Biology. She has worked in the Zarnescu laboratory for the past three years and enjoys not only science, but also poetry and music.