Jan LaRocque, Ph.D., has been a faculty member in the Department of Human Science since July 2011. Her research focuses on DNA damage (specifically DNA double-strand break repair), using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to study fundamental biological principles and model human diseases associated with defects in maintaining genome integrity. At Georgetown, Dr. LaRocque currently teaches Introduction to Genetics and Genomics (Spring), Genetics in Health and Disease (Lecture and lab, Fall) and Genome Instability and Human Disease (Spring).
Dr. LaRocque earned her BS in Biology from the University of South Carolina Honors College. During her undergraduate studies, she completed several research projects and a honors thesis in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department (Olsen Lab) at the Medical University of South Carolina and the Biology Department (Lovell Lab) at the University of South Carolina. After completing her undergraduate education, Dr. LaRocque attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned her Ph.D. in the Biology studying DNA damage and cell cycle checkpoints in Drosophila melanogaster (Sekelsky Lab). Her postdoctoral work focused on the mechanisms of double-strand break repair in mammalian cells at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City (Jasin Lab). While at MSKCC, she also taught several semesters at LaGuardia Community College in the Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, including Principles in Biology and Fundamentals of Human Biology.
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- Associate Professor, SOH - Human Science Academic Department