Jorge Fernandez Davila

• 

  Jorge Fernandez Davila graduated from GMU in 2019 with a BS in Biology with a concentration in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. He was elected as the student speaker for the GMU College of Science degree ceremony in 2019. Jorge began his research in the Grant lab during the summer of 2018 and he attended the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in 2019. He is now pursuing his PhD in Biosciences at George Mason University.

• Research

  Jorge first started with the lab as a member of a summer research team that identified a mitochondrial gene signature in the perihperal blood of patients with IPF. He has since begun the validation of a humanized mouse model for the validation of the in-vitro work that has long been the focus of the Grant lab. As a doctoral student Jorge's focus is on the role that chemokine CXCL14 may play in the progression of IPF. This poorly understood molecule is highly conserved through the evolutionary history of many species and we have observed an increased expression of the ligand in IPF lungs. Jorge is working to characterize the receptor interaction in the hopes of identifying a novel drug target for the treatement of disease.

• 

Posters

Feranandez Davila J, Devlin M, Sobieski BH, Beuschel R, Collins C, Lemma M, Nathan SD, Rodriguez LR, Grant GM. Mitochondrial Chromosome Gene Expression as a Biomarker for Disease Progression in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with IPF. Poster session presented at: Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Summit 2019; 2019 November 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Recognized as a top 10 Poster

J. Fernandez Davila , A. Prativadhi, B.H. Sobieski, E. Bang, N. Seri, O. Kukudzhanova, T. Shazer, U. Sheikh, B. Post, L.R. Rodriguez, S.D. Nathan, D. Seto, G. Grant Identification of a Subset of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients with Low Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number and High Mitochondrial Gene Expression. Poster session presented at: 2019 National Conference on Undergraduate Research; 2019 April 10-13; Kennesaw, GA.