Bolgioni, A. F. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2021

Using Stakeholder Insights to Enhance Engagement in PhD Professional Development

There is increasing awareness of the need for predoctoral and postdoctoral professional development and career guidance, however many academic institutions are only beginning to build out these functional roles. As a graduate career educator, accessing the vast silos and resources at a university and with industrial partners can be daunting, yet collaborative endeavors and network development both on and off campus are crucial to the success of any career and professional development office. To better inform and direct the efforts of graduate career offices, forty-five stakeholders external and internal to academic institutions were identified and interviewed to gather and categorize perspectives on topics critical to career and professional development offices. Using a stakeholder network visualization tool developed by the authors, stakeholder engagement can be rapidly assessed to ascertain areas where offices have strong connections and other areas where additional efforts could be directed to enhance engagement. General themes from interviews with internal and external stakeholders are discussed to provide graduate career educators with various stakeholder subgroup perspectives to help prepare for successful interactions. Benefits include increased engagement and opportunities to collaborate, as well as the opportunity to build or expand graduate career development offices.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2018

A genome-wide miRNA screen identifies regulators of tetraploid cell proliferation

Tetraploid cells, which are most commonly generated by errors in cell division, are genomically unstable and have been shown to promote tumorigenesis. Recent genomic studies have estimated that [~]40% of all solid tumors have undergone a genome-doubling event during their evolution, suggesting a significant role for tetraploidy in driving the development of human cancers. To safeguard against the deleterious effects of tetraploidy, non-transformed cells that fail mitosis and become tetraploid activate both the Hippo and p53 tumor suppressor pathways to restrain further proliferation. Tetraploid cells must therefore overcome these anti-proliferative barriers to ultimately drive tumor development. However, the genetic routes through which spontaneously arising tetraploid cells adapt to regain proliferative capacity remain poorly characterized. Here, we conducted a comprehensive, gain-of-function genome-wide screen to identify miRNAs that are sufficient to promote the proliferation of tetraploid cells. Our screen identified 23 miRNAs whose overexpression significantly promotes tetraploid proliferation. The vast majority of these miRNAs facilitate tetraploid growth by enhancing mitogenic signaling pathways (e.g. miR-191-3p); however, we also identified several miRNAs that impair the p53/p21 pathway (e.g. miR-523-3p), and a single miRNA (miR-24-3p) that potently inactivates the Hippo pathway via downregulation of the tumor suppressor gene NF2. Collectively, our data reveal several avenues through which tetraploid cells may regain the proliferative capacity necessary to drive tumorigenesis.

cancer biology↗