Staff Profile

Laura Robertson

RESEARCH GENETICIST

Contact Information

Laura Robertson
11649 Leetown Road
Kearneysville, WV 25430
lrobertson@usgs.gov
Phone: 304-724-4579
Fax: 304-724-4465

Short Biography

Laura Robertson is a research geneticist at the Leetown Science Center in Kearneysville WV. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Georgia, an M.S. in Genetics from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before joining the USGS in 2005, she worked as a senior editor for biocuration in the Proteome Division at Incyte Corporation. Laura conducts ecotoxicological research investigating the effects of environmental stressors, pesticides, and contaminants on the expression of genes involved in reproduction, immune response, and the endocrine system in a variety of aquatic organisms, including Atlantic salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass, Lost River and shortnose suckers, and in several native North American frog species. Her work has shown that exposure to estrogen disrupts expression of hepcidin, an iron regulatory hormone and putative antimicrobial peptide, in largemouth bass.

Full Biography

Education:

PhD, 2000, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Biology)

Dissertation title: Functional Specificity of the Yeast A Kinases

MS, 1994, University of Georgia (Genetics)

Thesis title: Complementation of the apsB Mutation in Aspergillus nidulans

BS, 1991, University of Georgia (Mathematics)

Graduated Cum Laude

Phillips Academy, Andover MA, 1983-1987

Professional Experience:

2005- present: Aquatic Ecology Branch, Leetown Science Center, USGS

Research Geneticist (Genomics)

1999-2005 Proteome Division, Incyte Corporation

Senior Editor, Curation Science, 2002-2005

Lead Editor/ Assistant Editor, 2000-2001

Scientific Curator, 1999

2001-2002 Consultant for Microbia, Inc. (now Ironwood Pharmaceuticals)

1991-1992 Endangered Species Specialist (contractor), U.S. Army Corp of Engineers: sampling for sea turtles and sturgeon; observer on board split-hull hopper dredge

Patents:

L.S. Robertson, H.C. Causton, G.R. Fink, and R.A. Young. Iron uptake and respiratory function are differentially regulated by yeast A kinases. U.S. Patent #6,599,705, filed 2000, approved 2003.
S. Rupp, L. Robertson, E. Summers, P. Hecht, R. Roberts, H. Madhani, C. Styles, H.-J. Lo, A. Sherman, B. Cali, and G. Fink. Regulation of fungal gene expression. U.S. Patent #6,303,302, filed 1998, approved 2001. Patent exclusively licensed by Microbia, Inc.

Awards:

Genie Outstanding Contributor Award, Incyte Corporation, 2004 (for writing customer documentation for new web-based search tool).
Genie Outstanding Contributor Award, Incyte Corporation, 2003 (for developing mutant phenotype module for fungal databases).

Optional Content

Highlighted Projects:

http://www.usgs.gov/ecosystems/genetics_genomics/environmental_toxicology_fish.html#tgf_beta

http://www.usgs.gov/ecosystems/genetics_genomics/environmental_toxicology_amphibians.html