Profile
Jennifer Mason
Genetics and Biochemistry
Associate Professor
864-656-3345
Life Sciences Building 56 [Lab]
Life Sciences Building 57B [Office]
Life Sciences Building 60G [Lab]
Life Sciences Building 73 [Lab]
Life Sciences Building 75 [Lab]
Educational Background
B.S., Biology, Central Michigan University
Ph.D., Human Genetics, University of Michigan
Profile/About Me
Dr. Mason received her B.S. in Biology at Central Michigan University. She obtained her Ph.D. from University of Michigan in Human Genetics. Her thesis work was completed in Dr. JoAnn Sekiguchi’s lab where she studied interstrand crosslink repair and the replication stress response. She then performed postdoctoral research in Dr. Doug Bishop’s lab at University of Chicago where she studied homologous recombination in human cells. Dr. Mason joined the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry in 2017.
Research Interests
Projects in the Mason lab focus on DNA repair mechanisms in human cells. Specifically, her research program aims to understand how cells respond to different types of DNA damage and how defects in the underlying mechanisms contribute to human disease including cancer. In addition, her research program is identifying and characterizing small molecule inhibitors that are lethal to cells with specific DNA repair defects with the goal of identifying novel strategies for cancer therapies.
Courses Taught
GEN 3020: Molecular and General Genetics
GEN/BCHM 4930: Senior Seminar
GEN 4200/6200: Molecular Genetics and Gene Regulation
Selected Publications
Turner JL and Mason JM (2025). FBH1 and the replication stress response: Implications for genome stability and cancer development. DNA Repair. Epub Ahead of Print doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2025.103865
Turner JL, Moore G, McCraw TJ, and Mason JM (2025). Overexpression of NEK8 inhibits homologous recombination (2025). DNA Repair. In Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dnarep.2025.103902
Jennings, L*, Walters HA* McCraw TJ, Turner JT, and Mason JM (2024). FBH1-deficiency sensitizes cells to WEE1 inhibition by promoting mitotic catastrophe. DNA Repair. 133: 103611. PMCID: PMC10872337.
a. Claus L#, Chen C# , Stallworth J##, Turner JL##, Slatts G, Hawks AL, Mabillard H, Senum SR, Srikanth S, Flanagan-Steet H, Louie RJ, Silver J, Ellis JL, Morel C, Mighton C, Sleutels F, van Slegtenhorst M, van Ham T, Brooks AS, Dorresteijn EM, Barakat TS, Dahan K, Demoulin N, Goffin EJ, Olinger E, Genomics England Research Consortium, Larsen M, Hertz JM, Lilien MR, Obeidová L, Seeman T, Stone HK, Kerecuk L, Gurgu M, Yengej FAY, Ammerlan CME, Rookmaaker MB, Hanna C, Rogers RC, Duran K, Peters E, Sayer JA, van Haaften, G ###, Harris PC###, Ling K*, Mason JM*, van Eerde AM*, Steet RM*(2023). Certain Heterozygous Variants in the Kinase Domain of NEK8 Can Cause an Autosome Dominant form of Polycystic Kidney Disease. Kidney International. 104(5):995-1007. PMCID: PMC10592035. #, ##, ### equal contribution. * co-corresponding.
Han YJ, Zhang J, Lee JH, Mason JM, Karginova O, Yoshimatsu TF, Hao Q, Anantharaman A, Hurley I, Kim D, Brunet LP, Prat A, Kannanganattu P, Gack M, and Olopade OI (2021). A long noncoding RNA from the BRCA1 Pseudogene positively regulates tumor growth through inhibition of anti-viral immunity. Cancer Research. 81(6): 1540-1551. PMID: 33472891
Abrams SR, Hawks ALG, Evans JM, Famula T, Mahaffey M, Johnson G, Mason JM, and Clark LA (2020). A genetic investigation into dental anomalies of Shetland sheepdogs uncovers a splice variant of canine Growth Hormone 1 and a novel body size gene, FtsJ RNA 2'-O-Methyltransferase 3 PNAS. 117: 24929-24935. PMID: 32958658 * cover article.
