Assistant Professor of Biology F.W. Olin Science Center, Room 2340   1250 N. Dartmouth Ave. Claremont, CA 91711 (909) 607-2670 drewell@hmc.edu

Education & Professional Experience

• B.Sc., Molecular Genetics, King’s College, University of London
• Ph.D., Molecular & Developmental Biology, King’s College, University of Cambridge
• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge
• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley
• Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology
• Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Reno (2004-2006)

Teaching

• Biology 52: Introductory Biology
• Biology 54: Introductory Biology Laboratory
• Biology 82: Bioethics and Embryology (Integrative Experience Course)
• Biology 113: Molecular Biology
• Biology 122: Cell and Developmental Biology seminar
• Biology 164: Genetics seminar
• Chemistry 25: Interdisciplinary Freshman Laboratory

Research Interests and Goals

Gene regulation during development in Drosophila and mammals.

Currently analyzing the epigenetic and cis-regulatory network that controls gene expression in the Hox gene complexes. Two related projects examine the functional role of non-coding RNAs and a novel cis-sequence, termed the promoter tethering element. Also studying conserved mechanisms of gene regulation by testing the functional activity of mammalian imprinting control regions in Drosophila and mice and characterizing functional regulatory modules at the telomerase gene of primates.

For more details and information, see Dr. Drewell's personal website.

John Allen

Matt Borok

Eric Gunther

Margaret Ho

Esther Hwang

Winfong Lee

Andrew Nevarez

Fahmi Quadir

Andrey Shur

Mike Starr 

Diana Tran

Peter Tu

Terence Wong 

 
Senior Theses

Sara Goetz ’08: Developing a Drosophila S2 Cell System: A Tool for Molecular Dissection of Regulatory DNA Sequences
 
Margaret C. W. Ho ’08: Functional conservation of the IAB8 enhancer in the bithorax complex of Drosophila
 
Ben J. Schiller ’08: On the function of non-genic transcription at the Drosophila bithorax complex

Holly Johnsen ’07:  Evolution of IAB5 enhancer sequence and functionality in Drosophila

Christoph Rau ’07:  Does Functional Conservation Stem from Sequence Conservation?  A Functional and Bioinformatical Analysis of the IAB8 Enhancer in Drosophila

Selected Publications (undergraduates indicated in bold)

Ho MCW, Schiller BJ, Goetz SE and Drewell RA. 2009. Non-genic transcription at the Drosophila bithorax complex – functional activity of the dark matter of the genome. International Journal of Developmental Biology – In press. [article]

Ho MCW, Venema DR and Drewell RA.  In press.  A concise Drosophila laboratory module to introduce the central concepts of genetics.  Drosophila Information Service.

Ho MCW, Schiller BJ, Goetz SE, Allen JM and Drewell, RA. 2008. Between transcription and translation: re-defining RNA and regulation. Fly 2: 152-155. [ abstract ]

Akbari OS, Bae E, Johnsen H, Villaluz A, Wong D and Drewell RA. 2008. A novel promoter tethering element regulates enhancer-driven gene expression at the bithorax complex in the Drosophila embryo.  Development 135: 123-131.  [article]

Akbari OS, Schiller BJ, Goetz SE, Ho MCW, Bae E and Drewell RA. 2007. The Abdominal-B promoter tethering element mediates promoter-enhancer specificity at the Drosophila bithorax complex. Fly 1: 337-339. [ article ]

Celniker S and Drewell RA. 2007. Chromatin looping mediates boundary element promoter interactions. Bioessays. 29: 7-10. [article]

Arney KL, Bae E, Olsen CE and Drewell RA. 2006. The human and mouse H19 imprinting control regions harbor an evolutionarily conserved silencer element that functions on transgenes in Drosophila. Development, Genes and Evolution. 216: 811-819. [article]

Akbari OS, Bousum A, Bae E and Drewell RA. 2006. Unraveling cis-regulatory mechanisms at the abdominal-A and Abdominal-B genes in the Drosophila bithorax complex. Developmental Biology. 293: 294-304. [article]

Hagège H, Nasser R, M. Weber, L. Milligan, Aptel N, Jacquet C, Drewell RA, Dandolo L, Surani MA, Cathala G and Forné T. 2006. The 3’ portion of the mouse H19 Imprinting-Control Region is required for proper tissue-specific expression of the Igf2 gene. Cytogenetic & Genome Research. 113: 230-237. [abstract]

Bae E, Calhoun VC, Levine M, Lewis EB, Drewell RA. 2002. Characterization of the intergenic RNA profile at abdominal-A and Abdominal-B in the Drosophila bithorax complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 99:16847-52. [article]

Drewell RA, Bae E, Burr J and Lewis EB. 2002. Transcription defines the embryonic domains of cis-regulatory activity at the Drosophila bithorax complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 99:16853-8. [article]

Drewell RA, Arney KL, Arima T, Barton SC, Brenton JD, Surani MA. 2002. Novel conserved elements upstream of the H19 gene are transcribed and act as mesodermal enhancers. Development. 129:1205-13. [article]