UCSF Neurological Surgery faculty since 2007
 
Dr. Hyer's research program examines the role of the embryonic environment on the cell biology and behavior of primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) types by using medullosblastoma tumor cell lines and introducing them into early embryonic chick brain tissue. Results have indicated that the tumor cells migrate throughout the developing neuroepithelium in a directed manner that she is currently characterizing with regard to potential signals. Dr. Hyer is working to characterize this cell behavior and correlate it with known signals that promote migration and tumor-cell biology. Future studies in this research program will expand these techniques to other PNETs, including retinoblastoma, in an effort to determine if the embryonic environment provides a correction of malignant behavior. This novel xenograft model system may uniquely allow for characterizing the migration and invasion behavior of various tumor types, including primary tumor cells.
 
Education, Training, and Previous Positions
 
1991: BS, University of Connecticut
1998: PhD, Cornell University
1998-2000: Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University, Weill Medical College
2000-2007: Assistant Reserach Embryologist, Department of Neurological Surgery, UCSF
 
Selected Professional Memberships and Appointments
 
Society for Developmental Biologists
 
Contact
 
Jeanette Hyer PhD
4 Koret Way 314
Box 0520
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA. 94143 - 0520
Phone: (415) 514-2447
 
Selected Recent Publications
 
Dias da Silva MR, Tiffin N, Mima T, Mikawa T, Hyer J. FGF-mediated induction of ciliary body tissue in the chick eye. Dev Biol 2007;304(1):272-85.
 
Baia GS, Slocum AL, Hyer JD, Misra A, Sehati N, VandenBerg SR, Feuerstein BG, Deen DF, McDermott MW, Lal A. A genetic strategy to overcome the senescence of primary meningioma cell cultures. J Neurooncol 2006;78(2):113-21.
 
Hyer J. Looking at an oft-overlooked part of the eye: a new perspective on ciliary body development in chick. Dev Neurosci 2004;26(5-6):456-65.
 
Hyer J, Kuhlman J, Afif E, Mikawa T. Optic cup morphogenesis requires pre-lens ectoderm but not lens differentiation. Dev Biol 2003;259(2):351-63.
 
Hyer J, Mima T, Mikawa T. FGF1 patterns the optic vesicle by directing the placement of the neural retina domain. Development 1998;125(5):869-77.