Image of the Month: Hues of HeLa
Our own Dr. Kristen Engevik is the winner of “CELL-ebrating HeLa” image competition with the image “Hues of HeLa,” presented here.
Congratulations, Kristen!
The Cell Physiology Image Competition was sponsored by the American Journal of Physiology.
HeLa is an immortal cell line widely used in scientific research. The cells derive from cervical cancer cells taken on February 8, 1951, from Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year-old African-American mother of five, who died of cancer on October 4 the same year. HeLa is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line.
About Dr. Kristen Engevik’s work in the Hyser lab
Engevik, is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Dr. Joseph Hyser in Baylor’s Department of Molecular Virology & Microbiology.
The Hyser lab is interested in dissecting the cellular signaling pathways exploited by disease-causing microorganisms, such as rotavirus, calicivirus and others that contribute to human diseases.
Engevik’s research focuses on epithelial-pathogen interactions in the gastrointestinal tract and elucidating the molecular consequences of purinergic signaling, a form of extracellular signaling mediated by purine nucleotides and nucleosides such as adenosine and ATP, in the physiological processes involved in disease.
