Theresa Proctor

Education

B.S. in Molecular & Cellular Biology (summa cum laude) from the University of Puget Sound, 2020

Research Interests

My research involves the experimental characterization of computationally predicted esterases in E. coli MG1655. Experimentally annotating protein function is costly and time-consuming, therefore reliable computational annotation methods are needed to extract functional insight from the modern over-abundance of sequence data. I am studying the in vivo enzymatic functions and physiological roles of two putative esterases, YigI and YajD, to validate the functional predictions obtained through COFACTOR2, our lab’s previously reported computational annotation pipeline. 

Professional History

July 2021 to present: PREP Intern 

Freddolino lab, University of Michigan Medical School

Research focus: Experimental characterization of putative esterases in E. coli

2018 to 2019: Undergraduate researcher 

Elliott lab, Department of Biology, University of Puget Sound 

Research focus: Identification and characterization of novel oomycete pathogens in the Puget Sound

Fellowships & Awards

NIH Post-baccalaureate Research and Education Program Grant (2021)

President’s Award for Academic Excellence (awarded to one graduate per year, 2020)

McCormick Research Grant (Summer 2019)

Sherman Fairchild Research Grant (Summer 2018)

Outstanding Sophomore of the Biology Department (2018)

Underclassman Award in Chemistry (2018)

Puget Sound Trustee Merit Scholarship (2016-2020)

Honor Societies

Phi Sigma Biological Sciences Honor Society, member since 2018

Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society, member since 2019

Mortar Board Honors Society, member since 2019

Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society, member since 2019