Cheryl Lyn Walker Explained

Cheryl Lyn Walker
Birth Place:Oak Cliff, Texas, US
Education:BSc, molecular biology, 1977, University of Colorado Boulder
PhD, molecular biology, 1984, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
MD, Baylor College of Medicine
Thesis Title:The Effects of epigenetic manipulations on cellular phenotype
Thesis Year:1984
Spouse:Michael Walker
Workplaces:Baylor 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]

Notes and References

  1. News: Roser . Mary Ann . A life devoted to solving one fatal mystery . June 6, 2021 . . October 8, 2007. newspapers.com.
  2. News: Roser . Mary Ann . Her work uncovered chemical link . June 6, 2021 . Austin American-Statesman . October 8, 2007.
  3. Web site: About the Center Director . Baylor College of Medicine . June 6, 2021 . https://archive.today/20210606202424/https://www.bcm.edu/academic-centers/precision-environmental-health/faculty/leadership . June 6, 2021.
  4. Web site: Gutierrez . Graciela . Baylor College of Medicine to focus on environmental causes of disease . Baylor College of Medicine . June 6, 2021 . August 29, 2016.
  5. Web site: Endowed professorships . June 6, 2021 . 4 . 2009.
  6. Web site: Merville . Scott . New grants give researchers the GO-ahead . MD Anderson Cancer Center . June 6, 2021 . 2009.
  7. Web site: WALKER OF M.D. ANDERSON NAMED IBT DIRECTOR . Texas A&M . June 6, 2021 . July 14, 2011.
  8. Web site: DR. WALKER NAMED TO NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE BOARD . Texas A&M . June 6, 2021 . August 22, 2012.
  9. Web site: IBT DR. WALKER NAMED AAAS FELLOW . Texas A&M . June 6, 2021 . April 5, 2012.
  10. Web site: WALKER NAMED TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR . Texas A&M . June 6, 2021 . April 5, 2016.
  11. Web site: WALKER NAMED TOP FEMALE LEADER IN HOUSTON AREA BY TEXAS EXECUTIVE WOMEN . Texas A&M . June 6, 2021 . September 2, 2015.
  12. Web site: Baylor College of Medicine to focus on environmental causes of disease . Baylor College of Medicine . June 6, 2021 . August 29, 2016.
  13. Web site: Benson . Dana . Two Baylor College of Medicine faculty members named to National Academy of Medicine . Baylor College of Medicine . June 6, 2021 . October 17, 2016.
  14. Web site: Dr. Cheryl Lyn Walker receives Outstanding Investigator Award . Baylor College of Medicine . June 6, 2021 . August 6, 2018.
  15. Web site: Gore . Andrea . Meet the 2019 Laureates: Cheryl Lynn Walker, PhD . Endocrine News . June 6, 2021 . January 2019.
  16. Walker . Cheryl . Molecular Genetics of Renal Carcinogenesis . . January 1, 1998 . 26 . 1 . 113–120 . 10.1177/019262339802600113 . 9502393 . 25638654 . free .
  17. Walker . Cheryl Lyn . Stewart . Elizabeth A. . Uterine fibroids: the elephant in the room . Science . June 10, 2005 . 308 . 5728 . 589–92 . 10.1126/science.1112063 . 15947177 . 2005Sci...308.1589W . 21932162 . June 6, 2021.