Dr Zandra Jenkins

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.