Donna D. Eason, PhD

Dr. Eason is a Florida native and in 2000 earned her PhD in Medical Sciences Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine under the direction of Dr. George Blanck. In that same year, Dr. Eason accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship position in Molecular Genetics Research under the guidance of Dr. Gary Litman and since 2005 has been a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Eason’s major research interests are focused on the evolution of the antigen receptor genes, development of animal models for human cancers using transgenic zebrafish and determining the function of the novel gene BIVM.

Education & Training

Scholarly Activity

Current Funding:

• All Children’s Hospital Foundation Institutional Research Grant, Modeling AKT-Associated Cancer in Transgenic Zebrafish, 9/08-8/11

Selected Publications

Eason DD, Litman RT, Luer CA, Kerr W, Litman GW. Expression of individual immunoglobulin genes occurs in an unusual system consisting of multiple independent loci. European Journal of Immunology, 2004, 34, 2551-2558.

Eason DD, Cannon JP, Haire RN, Rast JP, Ostrov D, Litman GW. Mechanisms of antigen receptor evolution. Seminars in Immunology, 2004, 16, 215-226.

Cannon JP, Haire RN, Mueller MG, Litman RT, Eason DD, Tinnemore D, Amemiya CT, Ota T, Litman GW. Ancient divergence of a complex family of immune-type receptor genes. Immunogenetics, 2006, 58, 362-373.

Litman GW, Cannon JP, Dishaw LJ, Haire RN, Eason DD, Yoder JA, Hernandez Prada J, Ostrov DA. Immunoglobulin variable regions in molecules exhibiting characteristics of innate and adaptive immune receptors. Immunologic Research, 2007, 38, 294-304.

Cannon JP, Haire RN, Magis AT, Eason DD, Winfrey KN, Hernandez Prada JA, Bailey KM, Jakoncic J, Litman GW, Ostrov DA. A bony fish immunological receptor of the NITR multigene family mediates allospecific recognition. Immunity, 2008, 29, 228-237.