Renee Owen

I am an undergraduate student working on a Richco Labs-sponsored project spanning the Karlstrom Lab and Timme-Laragy Lab. My Honors Thesis investigates the effects of PFAS, a class of anthropogenic chemicals, on exocrine pancreas development in embryonic and larval zebrafish using the Tg(ptf1a:GFP) line. I am probing the rates of cell proliferation in long-term and short-term exposures to understand the mechanism of interference of one PFAS chemical, HxS, during pancreas elongation. My project will advance our understanding of the developmental consequences of HxS exposure and may begin to uncover the cellular mechanisms disrupted by PFAS. Outside of the lab, I am on two dance teams and enjoy crocheting and hanging out with my cat in my free time!