Tiffiney Hartman

Experience

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  The Ohio State University

  Jan 1998 - Jan 2004

  Graduate Research Associate
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  Fox Chase Cancer Center

  Aug 2005 - Aug 2018

  Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the US with a 5-year survival rate of less than 7% and a median survival of only 3 to 6 months. The majority of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas are diagnosed at a late stage, are not surgically resectable, and respond poorly to chemotherapy, so an emphasis on earlier detection methods is critical. Several groups have reported a possible link between diet and the development of pancreatic cancer, but any potential mechanism has yet to be determined. My lab is interested in elucidating the role of dietary components that affect signaling events that promote the development of pancreatic cancer. Show less In the lab of Dr. Alana O'Reilly, I focused on a cell signaling project where I identified the Hedgehog binding protein Boi as a critical negative regulator of epithelial stem cell proliferation using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. Boi acts by sequestering mature Hedgehog molecules on the surface of the Hedgehog-producing cells of the fly ovary, thus tempering epithelial stem cell proliferation by a novel mechanism. Importantly this work has defined an exciting new signal transduction pathway in which Boi acts as a rheostat to translate levels of dietary cholesterol to control epithelial stem cell proliferation via Hedgehog. Show less As a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Henske, I simultaneously initiated two independent projects. The first project included the development and description of the first mouse model of Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD), which is an inheritable renal cancer caused by the mutation of the protein folliculin. The transgenic mouse developed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that mimicked human RCC. During this time I expanded my technical skills to include mammalian models of cancer and a variety of tissue culture and molecular biology assays. My second project involved analyzing two seemingly unrelated diseases that are actually linked by the involvement of the TOR pathway and also the fact that potential defects in the primary cilia is involved in development of the disease. Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder causing non-malignant tumors to form in multiple organs, and polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disorder in which cysts develop in and eventually destroy kidneys. My focus on this project was determining the role of the TSC1 and TSC2 genes hamartin and tuberin in the function of the primary cilium. Show less

  • Visiting Scientist

    Aug 2017 - Aug 2018

  • Assistant Research Professor

    Jun 2014 - Aug 2017

  • Research Associate

    Jun 2013 - Jun 2014

  • Postdoctoral Associate

    Jan 2009 - Jun 2013

  • Postdoctoral Fellow

    Aug 2005 - Jan 2009
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  Arcadia University

  Aug 2017 - May 2019

  Genetic counseling graduate student
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  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  Jun 2019 - now

  Licensed Clinical Genetic Counselor II

  Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center (IMGC)

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  University of Pennsylvania

  Jan 2023 - now

  Associate Director Genetic Counseling Certificate Program