Jessica Sawyer | Scholars@Duke

Jessica Sawyer
Assistant Research Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology

Dr. Sawyer studies organ boundary communication and non-stem-cell mechanisms of repair in the Fox Lab.

Dr. Sawyer is also dedicated to teaching and mentorship.

Director of Undergraduate Studies in Pharmacology

Director of 2 undergraduate summer research programs at Duke: AMGEN and SURPH

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Assistant Research Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, Basic Science Departments 2018

Contact Information

308 Research Drive, DUMC 3813, LSRC B234, Durham, NC 27710
DUMC 3813, LSRC B234, Durham, NC 27710
jessica.sawyer@duke.edu (919) 660-7355

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 2010
Expertise
Subject Headings
- Muser Mentor
Research
Selected Grants
- Polyploidy after tissue injury: a Drosophila model awarded by National Institutes of Health 2016 - 2025
- Institutional Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) awarded by American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 2018 - 2025
- Examining infection-mediated metastasis with single-cell resolution awarded by National Institutes of Health 2014 - 2016
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Harris, Tony J. C., Jessica K. Sawyer, and Mark Peifer. How the cytoskeleton helps build the embryonic body plan: models of morphogenesis from Drosophila. Vol. 89, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0070-2153(09)89003-0.
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- Academic Articles
  - Allen, Scott R., Rebeccah K. Stewart, Michael Rogers, Ivan Jimenez Ruiz, Erez Cohen, Alain Laederach, Christopher M. Counter, Jessica K. Sawyer, and Donald T. Fox. “Distinct responses to rare codons in select Drosophila tissues.” Elife 11 (May 6, 2022). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.76893.
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  - Cohen, Erez, Nora G. Peterson, Jessica K. Sawyer, and Donald T. Fox. “Accelerated cell cycles enable organ regeneration under developmental time constraints in the Drosophila hindgut.” Dev Cell 56, no. 14 (July 26, 2021): 2059-2072.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2021.04.029.
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  - Sawyer, Jessica K., Zahra Kabiri, Ruth A. Montague, Scott R. Allen, Rebeccah Stewart, Sarah V. Paramore, Erez Cohen, Hamed Zaribafzadeh, Christopher M. Counter, and Donald T. Fox. “Exploiting codon usage identifies intensity-specific modifiers of Ras/MAPK signaling in vivo.” Plos Genet 16, no. 12 (December 2020): e1009228. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009228.
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  - Cohen, Erez, Jessica K. Sawyer, Nora G. Peterson, Julian A. T. Dow, and Donald T. Fox. “Physiology, Development, and Disease Modeling in the Drosophila Excretory System.” Genetics 214, no. 2 (February 2020): 235–64. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.119.302289.
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  - Cohen, Erez, Scott R. Allen, Jessica K. Sawyer, and Donald T. Fox. “Fizzy-Related dictates A cell cycle switch during organ repair and tissue growth responses in the Drosophila hindgut.” Elife 7 (August 17, 2018). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38327.
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  - Cohen, Erez, Scott Allen, Jessica Sawyer, and Donald Fox. “A Cell Cycle Switch Dictates Organ Repair and Tissue Growth Responses in TheDrosophilaHindgut,” 2018. https://doi.org/10.1101/331223.
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  - Sawyer, Jessica K., Erez Cohen, and Donald T. Fox. “Interorgan regulation of Drosophila intestinal stem cell proliferation by a hybrid organ boundary zone.” Development 144, no. 22 (November 15, 2017): 4091–4102. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.153114.
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  - Sawyer, Jessica, Erez Cohen, and Donald Fox. “Inter-organ regulation ofDrosophilaintestinal stem cell proliferation by a hybrid organ boundary zone,” 2017. https://doi.org/10.1101/152074.
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  - Cai, Danfeng, Shann-Ching Chen, Mohit Prasad, Li He, Xiaobo Wang, Valerie Choesmel-Cadamuro, Jessica K. Sawyer, Gaudenz Danuser, and Denise J. Montell. “Mechanical feedback through E-cadherin promotes direction sensing during collective cell migration.” Cell 157, no. 5 (May 22, 2014): 1146–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.045.
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  - Sawyer, Jessica K., Wangsun Choi, Kuo-Chen Jung, Li He, Nathan J. Harris, and Mark Peifer. “A contractile actomyosin network linked to adherens junctions by Canoe/afadin helps drive convergent extension.” Mol Biol Cell 22, no. 14 (July 15, 2011): 2491–2508. https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E11-05-0411.
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  - Sawyer, Jessica K., Nathan J. Harris, and Mark Peifer. “Morphogenesis: multitalented GTPases seeking new jobs.” Curr Biol 19, no. 21 (November 17, 2009): R985–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.09.060.
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  - Roeth, Jeremiah F., Jessica K. Sawyer, Daniel A. Wilner, and Mark Peifer. “Rab11 helps maintain apical crumbs and adherens junctions in the Drosophila embryonic ectoderm.” Plos One 4, no. 10 (October 28, 2009): e7634. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007634.
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  - Sawyer, Jessica K., Nathan J. Harris, Kevin C. Slep, Ulrike Gaul, and Mark Peifer. “The Drosophila afadin homologue Canoe regulates linkage of the actin cytoskeleton to adherens junctions during apical constriction.” J Cell Biol 186, no. 1 (July 13, 2009): 57–73. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200904001.
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- Datasets
  - Montell, Denise, and Jessica Sawyer. “Faculty Opinions recommendation of A mechanoresponsive cadherin-keratin complex directs polarized protrusive behavior and collective cell migration.,” April 18, 2012. https://doi.org/10.3410/f.13411042.15778104.
    Data Access
  - Montell, Denise, and Jessica Sawyer. “Faculty Opinions recommendation of Lulu2 regulates the circumferential actomyosin tensile system in epithelial cells through p114RhoGEF.,” November 23, 2011. https://doi.org/10.3410/f.13372957.14743055.
    Data Access
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Service to the Profession
- Participant. Faculty Short Course on Improving Departmental Climate. Duke Office of Faculty Advancement & Duke Office of Institutional Equity. August 2, 2021 - August 5, 2021 2021

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Subject Headings

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Datasets

Recent Courses

Service to the Profession