Name: Mika Caplan
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Hobbies: Hiking, snorkeling, rock climbing, painting
Lab: Trejo Lab, Dept. of Pharmacology, UCSD
Lab website: http://trejolab.ucsd.edu/
What do you study?
I study cell signaling in breast cancer. All mammalian cells transmit messages from outside the cell to the inside. When the message in the signal becomes dysregulated, this can lead to all sorts of downstream problems and can eventually result in uninhibited cell growth and proliferation (aka cancer cells). My lab is interested in understanding the signaling pathways that become dysregulated in breast cancer to identify potential targets for cancer therapeutics.
Why is it important?
Cancer is a worldwide disease that affects millions of people. Some cancers are easier to treat than others, however triple negative breast cancer is especially difficult to treat because of its lack of therapeutic targets. By studying the molecular mechanisms that lead to disease, we can begin to find new targets that may help treat patients in the future.
What piqued your interest in science?
My parents are both biomedical scientists, so I grew up learning about science and what it was like to work in a lab. I would ask them lots of questions about biology and was always interested to learn about these tiny living things called cells that I had never seen!
What do you like about being a scientist?
I like being able to think about a question or problem from lots of different angles and coming up with strategies to answer questions in a logical way. Sometimes, it can be frustrating when experiments don’t work, but I enjoy the challenges of working independently as well as in a team setting!
What are 5 general vocabulary terms someone should know going into your field of science?
Signaling, cancer, pathway, receptor, therapeutics
What are 5 specific vocabulary terms someone should know about your research?
G protein-coupled receptor, Hippo pathway, oncogene, tumor suppressor, phosphorylation
