Why I
Joined GGCP

I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and have always had a love for animals and the marine environment. While receiving a BS in marine science at the University of Miami, I decided to combine my interest in animals and the environment in a career in veterinary medicine. I received my DVM from VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, completed a residency in anatomic pathology at UC Davis, and have passed the veterinary pathology board exam. During my residency, I became acquainted with many of the faculty, clinicians, and researchers in the GGCP so the choice to join the group for my graduate studies was an easy one. GGCP encompasses a wide diversity in faculty expertise, research projects, and research institutions. My research interests are in natural diseases of marine animals, wildlife pathology, carcinogenesis, and environmental toxicology. By joining GGCP, I have been able to work with many people and research groups that have expertise in each of these disciplines, such as the School of Medicine, the School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Wildlife Health Center. Working with my major advisor, Dr. Linda Lowenstine, has given me the opportunity to grow both as a pathologist and as a researcher in wildlife diseases. The graduate classes offered through the program have given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge base in many fields while also giving me the ability to tailor my classes to my specific interests.

California sea lions are native to the eastern Pacific coast and provide a unique opportunity to study a population of wild animals that is naturally exposed to environmental pollutants and in which there is a high prevalence of spontaneous neoplasms. The majority of these tumors are aggressive genitourinary carcinomas. Collaborative studies on the pathogenesis of genitourinary carcinomas in sea lions have been ongoing since 1994 at UC Davis and The Marine Mammal Center, a research and rehabilitation center in Sausalito, California. Previous studies have shown that sea lions with cancer have higher burdens of organochlorines (PCBs and DDT) in their tissues than do those dying from other causes. Previous research at UC Davis has shown that California sea lions also have a genital gammaherpesvirus that is highly associated with urogenital neoplasia, suggesting that multiple factors likely play a role in carcinogenesis.

The primary goal of my project is to investigate whether environmental pollutants play a role in genitourinary tumor development by causing either DNA damage (cancer initiation) or enhancement of cell proliferation (cancer promotion). Another goal of the project is to investigate molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis in sea lions. These studies are being completed using 32P-postlabeling to detect DNA adducts and DNA damage associated with environmental pollutants. Immunohistochemistry and molecular techniques are being used to assess estrogen and progesterone receptor expression in early and advanced cancers to evaluate potential promotion of carcinogenesis by environmental estrogenic compounds. Alterations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, such as p53, are also being studied. My project is being completed in collaboration with wildlife health and environmental toxicology experts at The Marine Mammal Center; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Northwest Fisheries and Alaska Science Centers in Seattle, Washington; and NOAA's Oceans and Human Health Initiative.

Figure 1. California sea lion and northern elephant seal rookery on San Miguel Island, California.

Figure 2. Immunohistochemical stain illustrating p53 expression in hyperplastic and dysplastic vaginal epithelium of a California sea lion with early neoplastic reproductive tract lesions.