Shannon Townsend
Graduate Student, Gannon laboratory, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
I grew up in Queens, NY and graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. in neuroscience. Outside of lab, I enjoy learning digital art, checking out new coffee shops, cooking and playing games with friends. My thesis project involves examining the role of matricellular protein, CCN2, which has been demonstrated to induce insulin-producing β-cell proliferation during conditions both in vivo and ex vivo. I will identify the role of CCN2 in β-cell proliferation during high-fat diet and investigate the mechanism by which it has its action using a transgenic embryonic mouse model of β-cell specific c-Met inactivation. Through my studies, I will uncover more information about how CCN2 induces β-cell proliferation, uncovering a role for CCN2 as a potential therapeutic for Type 2 Diabetes (T2D).