Contact Details
- Phone
- +64 3 479 7469
- zandra.jenkins@otago.ac.nz
University Links
- Position
- Research Fellow
- Department
- Department of Women's and Children's Health (Dunedin)
- Qualifications
- Bsc(Hons) PhD(Otago)
- Research summary
- Human genetics of skeletal development and congenital malformation
Research
I completed my doctorate with the AgResearch Molecular Biology Unit at the University of Otago in 1998, studying the Molecular Genetics of Wool. Since then I have moved on to studying human biology and spent two years at Uppsala University in Sweden studying protein translation. I continued these studies in the USA at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, where I also took up research into the regulation of Iron homeostasis in patients with Sickle Cell Anemia and b-Thalassemia. Returning to New Zealand in 2003 I joined Professor Stephen Robertson's, Clinical Genetics Group, as a Research Fellow.
My current field of interest is human genetic disorders that cause malformations of the developing skeleton, in particular those involved with mutations in the Filamin family of genes. My research is directed to the understanding of cellular consequences and mechanisms that underlie these conditions. By furthering knowledge of how these genes and associated proteins function during development I hope to provide insight into the processes of skeletogenesis.
Publications
Jenkins, Z. A., van Kogelenberg, M., Morgan, T., Jeffs, A., Fukuzawa, R., Pearl, E., … Robertson, S. P. (2009). Germline mutations in WTX cause a sclerosing skeletal dysplasia but do not predispose to tumorigenesis. Nature Genetics, 41(1), 95-100. doi: 10.1038/ng.270 Journal - Research Article
Cappello, S., Gray, M. J., Badouel, C., Lange, S., Einsiedler, M., Srour, M., … Jenkins, Z. A., Morgan, T., Preitner, N., … Black, M. A., Markie, D., … Robertson, S. P. (2013). Mutations in genes encoding the cadherin receptor-ligand pair DCHS1 and FAT4 disrupt cerebral cortical development. Nature Genetics, 45(11), 1300-1308. doi: 10.1038/ng.2765 Journal - Research Article
Gay, O., Gilquin, B., Nakamura, F., Jenkins, Z. A., McCartney, R., Krakow, D., … Robertson, S. P., & Baudier, J. (2011). RefilinB (FAM101B) targets FilaminA to organize perinuclear actin networks and regulates nuclear shape. PNAS, 108(28), 11464-11469. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1104211108 Journal - Research Article
Holman, S. K., Daniel, P., Jenkins, Z. A., Herron, R. L., Morgan, T., Savarirayan, R., … Robertson, S. P. (2011). The male phenotype in osteopathia striata congenita with cranial sclerosis. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 155(10), 2397-2408. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.34178 Journal - Research Article
Jenkins, Z. A., Hagar, W., Bowlus, C. L., Johansson, H. E., Harmatz, P., Vichinsky, E. P., & Theil, E. C. (2007). Iron homeostasis during transfusional iron overload in β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease: Changes in iron regulatory protein, hepcidin, and ferritin expression. Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, 24, 237-243. Journal - Research Article