Warren Alpert Physician-Scientist MD/PhD and Advanced Training Program

Valeria Brown is an MD-PhD student from Byram, Mississippi and is presently working
in the field of hematology/oncology in Dr. Patrycja Dubielecka’s lab in the Department of
Pathobiology of the Graduate Program. As a current American Society of Hematology
Minority Medical Student Awardee, Valeria’s project focuses on investigating
the involvement of LINE-1 in the aberrant methylome and transcriptome induced by the
clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) mutation driven by JAK2 (Janus
kinase 2) V617F. By characterizing LINE-1 activity in CHIP progression, she will
elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the LINE-1-CHIP relationship in the
pathobiology of aging-related myeloproliferative neoplasms using the low dose JAK2
V617F+ bone marrow transplantation model mimicking the effects of low variable allele
frequency (VAF) established in Dr. Dubielecka’s lab. In addition to completing her
rotation in Dr. Dubielecka’s lab, Valeria is also interested in several areas of study within
basic and translational research, such as cancer stem cell biology, hematological
malignancies, epigenomics, and cancer evolution.