Maggie Louie, PhD

AssOCIATE Professor

Office:  Science Center #220
Lab:  Science Center #225
415-485-3248
maggie.louie@dominican.edu

Academic Area

Biochemistry

Educational Background

• PhD Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of California, Davis, CA
• MS Biochemistry, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
• BS Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA
• BA Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Teaching and Research Interests

My dissertation work was focused on understanding the role of the coactivator, ACTR in breast cancer proliferation. The desire to teach has always been a significant part of my motivation to pursue a higher education and a career in academia. My teaching interests and philosophy have been shaped through my experiences both as a student and as an instructor for several colleges and universities, including San Francisco State University, Dominican University and San Francisco City College.  My role in the teaching is to facilitate and empower my students to learn. Teaching is not only for the students, but also a learning experience for myself, for I enjoy and greatly benefit from it.  In 2005, I accepted a full-time tenure track position at Dominican University as an Assistant Professor because it offered me the opportunity to do the two things that I enjoy the most in my life (other than my family): to teach and to research.  I hope to use my research as a tool for training my students to think critically and also to develop scientific theories.

My current research is focused on understanding the development of hormone refractory breast cancer.  Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies that occur in women in the United States.  Breast cancer results from the abnormal proliferation of the cells in the mammary gland.  The normal growth of mammary gland epithelial cells is modulated by the circulating levels of estrogen, a hormone produced by the ovaries.  The activity of estrogen is mediated by the estrogen receptor (ER) and thus serves as a key prognostic marker in breast cancer development.  Breast cancer can exists as either estrogen responsive or estrogen non-responsive cancer.  Majority of breast cancer initially develops as hormone dependent-cancer in which growth and progression of the cancer is modulated by the action of estrogen.  Hormone responsive cancer is typically treated with hormone ablation therapy or endocrine therapy to block the ER. Although success has resulted from such treatments, the cancer often develops into a more aggressive, hormone independent phenotype.  The mechanism of how hormone independence develops is not clear and my current research is focused on understanding the mechanism of how hormone-refractory breast cancer develops.

RECENT Publications

• Siewit, C.L., Gengler, B., Vegas, E., Puckett, R., Louie, M.C., Cadmium promotes breast cancer cell proliferation by mediating the interaction between ER and c-jun. Molecular Endocrinology 2010 May 24(5) 981-992
• Louie, M.C., McClellan, A., Siewit, C.L., Kawabata, L. Estrogen Receptor Regulates the Expression of E2F1 to Mediate Tamoxifen Resistance. Molecular Cancer Research 2010 March 8(3) 343-352
• Li, L., Louie M.C., Chen H.W., Zou, J. Proto-oncogene ACTR/AIB1 promotes breast cancer cell invasion by up-regulating specific MMP expression. Cancer Letters 2008 Mar 8;261(1):64-73
• Fussell, J. and Louie, M.C. The Impact of the Golden Gate Bridge on Marin County Suicide Statistics. BIOS 2008 79(4) 171-178
• Louie M.C., Revenko, A., Yao, J., Zou, J., Chen H.W. Direct Control of Cell Cycle Gene Expression by Proto-Oncogene Product ACTR, and Its Autoregulation Underlies Its Transforming Activity MCB 2006. 26:3810-3823

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

• Cadmium as Estrogen Receptor Modulator 2011Endocrine Society Meeting. Boston, Massachusetts June 4-7, 2011.
• The impact of chronic cadmium exposure on breast cancer progression. 6th Conference on Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis November 14-17, 2010. Sponsored by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and Health and the University of Kentucky
• Panel Expert: Teens for Safe Cosmetics Annual Summit, February 2008
• Developing a Cell Culture Module for Teaching Biology, El Majoudoubi, M., Louie, M.C., Spain, D. NCUR 2007: FAN session April 2007
• Panel Expert: Teens for Safe Cosmetics: Annual Summit Workshop, February 2007