Cheryl Lyn Walker
Born
Oak Cliff, Texas, US
SpouseMichael Walker
Academic background
EducationBSc, molecular biology, 1977, University of Colorado Boulder
PhD, molecular biology, 1984, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
MD, Baylor College of Medicine
ThesisThe Effects of epigenetic manipulations on cellular phenotype (1984)
Academic work
InstitutionsBaylor College of Medicine
Texas A&M University
MD Anderson Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
North Carolina State University
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Cheryl Lyn Walker is an American molecular biologist.

Early life and education

Walker was born and raised in Oak Cliff of South Dallas, Texas.[1] Her father was an entrepreneur who opened the first Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant.[2] Upon graduating high school, she majored in molecular biology at the University of Colorado Boulder before earning her PhD in molecular biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She then enrolled at Baylor College of Medicine for her medical degree.[3]

Career

Upon completing her medical degree, Walker joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.[4] In 2009, she joined the faculty at the MD Anderson Cancer Center as the Ruth and Walter Sterling Professor of Carcinogenesis.[5] While serving in this role, she was the co-recipient of a Grand Opportunity grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for a two-year research program.[6]

Walker left MD Anderson in 2011 to become the director of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (TAMHSC) Institute of Biosciences and Technology (IBT), where she was expected to establish a program in translational cancer research.[7] Following this, she was appointed to serve on the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute[8] and elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[9] As the director, Walker brought the TAMHSC into the Gulf Coast Consortia for Quantitative Biomedical Sciences and established the Texas Screening Alliance for Cancer Therapeutics. She also founded a Field-to-Clinic initiative in disease prevention at the IBT and oversaw the development of two centers of research excellence.[10] Due to her success, Walker was named a 2015 "Women on the Move" award recipient by Texas Executive Women.[11]

Walker eventually left Texas A&M to become the director of the Center for Precision Environmental Health and a professor in the Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Medicine, and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.[12] Upon joining the faculty, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.[13] Following this, she was awarded an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute for her project "A New Target for Chromatin Remodeler Defects in Cancer."[14] In 2019, Walker was the recipient of the Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research from the Endocrine Society.[15]

Research

In 1998, Walker was among the first to show that tumor suppressor genes were the target for chemical carcinogens in the environment.[16] Due to this discovery, she "created an animal model for the most frequent gynecologic tumor of women, elucidating pathways by which environmental exposures reprogram the epigenome and discovering a new linkage between the epigenome and the cytoskeleton."[13] Walker also developed a groundbreaking animal model for uterine leiomyoma/fibroids.[17]

Personal life

Walker and her husband Michael have two children together.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Roser, Mary Ann (October 8, 2007). "A life devoted to solving one fatal mystery". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 6, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Roser, Mary Ann (October 8, 2007). "Her work uncovered chemical link". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  3. ↑ "About the Center Director". Baylor College of Medicine. Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  4. ↑ Gutierrez, Graciela (August 29, 2016). "Baylor College of Medicine to focus on environmental causes of disease". Baylor College of Medicine. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Endowed professorships" (PDF). 2009. p. 4. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  6. ↑ Merville, Scott (2009). "New grants give researchers the GO-ahead". MD Anderson Cancer Center. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  7. ↑ "WALKER OF M.D. ANDERSON NAMED IBT DIRECTOR". Texas A&M. July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  8. ↑ "DR. WALKER NAMED TO NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE BOARD". Texas A&M. August 22, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  9. ↑ "IBT DR. WALKER NAMED AAAS FELLOW". Texas A&M. April 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  10. ↑ "WALKER NAMED TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR". Texas A&M. April 5, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  11. ↑ "WALKER NAMED TOP FEMALE LEADER IN HOUSTON AREA BY TEXAS EXECUTIVE WOMEN". Texas A&M. September 2, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Baylor College of Medicine to focus on environmental causes of disease". Baylor College of Medicine. August 29, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  13. 1 2 Benson, Dana (October 17, 2016). "Two Baylor College of Medicine faculty members named to National Academy of Medicine". Baylor College of Medicine. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Dr. Cheryl Lyn Walker receives Outstanding Investigator Award". Baylor College of Medicine. August 6, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  15. ↑ Gore, Andrea (January 2019). "Meet the 2019 Laureates: Cheryl Lynn Walker, PhD". Endocrine News. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  16. ↑ Walker, Cheryl (January 1, 1998). "Molecular Genetics of Renal Carcinogenesis". Toxicologic Pathology. 26 (1): 113–120. doi:10.1177/019262339802600113. PMID 9502393. S2CID 25638654.
  17. ↑ Walker, Cheryl Lyn; Stewart, Elizabeth A. (June 10, 2005). "Uterine fibroids: the elephant in the room". Science. 308 (5728): 589–92. Bibcode:2005Sci...308.1589W. doi:10.1126/science.1112063. PMID 15947177. S2CID 21932162. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
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