Javier E. Sierra-Pagán

UMN MSTP student Javier Sierra Pagan

Email: sierr025@umn.edu

Entering Class: 2016

Education:
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Biology major
B.S., 2014

University of Minnesota
Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology Graduate Program
Ph.D., 2022

Honors and Awards:

  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellows, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2020

Thesis Advisor: Dan Garry, M.D.

Thesis Research

I am currently studying Etv2 and its role in specifying and driving the hematoendothealial lineage during development. I am focused in identifying a pioneer role of Etv2 during development and how it can potentially help reprogram cells and drive lineages for the purpose of further enhancing regenerative medicine therapies.

Publications (pubmed)

Gong W, Das S, Sierra-Pagan JE, Skie E, Dsouza N, Larson TA, Garry MG, Luzete-Monteiro E, Zaret KS, Garry DJ. ETV2 functions as a pioneer factor to regulate and reprogram the endothelial lineage. Nat Cell Biol. 2022 May;24(5):672-684.

Singh BN, Sierra-Pagan JE, Gong W, Das S, Theisen JWM, Skie E, Garry MG, Garry DJ. ETV2 (Ets Variant Transcription Factor 2)-Rhoj Cascade Regulates Endothelial Progenitor Cell Migration During Embryogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2020 Dec;40(12):2875-2890.

Singh BN, Gong W, Das S, Theisen JWM, Sierra-Pagan JE, Yannopoulos D, Skie E, Shah P, Garry MG, Garry DJ. Etv2 transcriptionally regulates Yes1 and promotes cell proliferation during embryogenesis. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 5;9(1):9736. PMCID: PMC6611806

Work prior to the UMN MSTP:

Gerena Y, Menéndez-Delmestre R, Delgado-Nieves A, Vélez J, Méndez-Álvarez J, Sierra-Pagan JE, Skolasky RL, Henderson L, Nath A, Wojna V. Release of Soluble Insulin Receptor From Neurons by Cerebrospinal Fluid From Patients With Neurocognitive Dysfunction and HIV Infection. Front Neurol. 2019 Mar 26;10:285. PMCID: PMC6443904

Poleshko A, Shah PP, Gupta M, Babu A, Morley MP, Manderfield LJ, Ifkovits JL, Calderon D, Aghajanian H, Sierra-Pagán JE, Sun Z, Wang Q, Li L, Dubois NC, Morrisey EE, Lazar MA, Smith CL, Epstein JA, Jain R. Genome-Nuclear Lamina Interactions Regulate Cardiac Stem Cell Lineage Restriction. Cell. 2017 Oct 19;171(3):573-587.e14. PMCID: PMC5683101