Jeremy Hollis is a graduate student in the Molecular and Cellular Biology program, jointly advised by Dr. Melody Campbell (for more info on Campbell lab, go to https://research.fredhutch.org/campbell/en.html).

Jeremy was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and bounced around the east coast for the first few years of his life before claiming the Washington, DC area as home. He spent most of his time camping, rehearsing for community and school plays, and attempting to find as many different types of frogs as possible in the area. His first research experience involved dissecting livers from about 200 cow-nosed stingrays from the Chesapeake bay over the course of 3 hours, and despite a startling experience with a stingray twin live birth, has loved research ever since. Flash forward to undergraduate research at Denison University in Ohio, where he was able to put his frog-identifying skills to use in an ecological and behavioral study investigating response to invasive predation in local amphibian populations under Dr. Geoff Smith's mentorship. Still involved in theater, baking a little more regularly, and with a new appreciation for baseball, Jeremy moved to Chicago (six blocks from Wrigley field) where, in addition to designing scenery for storefront theaters in the city, he worked as a technician in Dr. Sadie Wignall's lab at Northwestern University. There, he gained an appreciation for all things microscopic and molecular as well as for the necessity of fresh-squeezed lime juice in a margarita.

Jeremy's thesis work involves how cell surface receptors adapt to continuously-changing external stimuli. He's interested in how integrin, a heterodimeric membrane protein, is able to control and change its ligand-binding repertoire to keep pace with signals both from our own bodies as well as from external pressures like pathogens. His thesis work utilizes structural and evolutionary approaches to study integrin behavior throughout history and between animal taxa. Jeremy appreciates most the creative process of scientific discoveries, although maybe sometimes the not-so-great days at the bench hit a little closer because of that.

Outside of lab Jeremy is still enamored by how close he his to mountains- a jarring change of scenery from Chicago. You can usually find him hiking/running out on trails, in various dance studios around Seattle, at live theater performances (or in the occasional tech week, paint brush in hand), or once again asking his roommate if he can use a whole shelf in their fridge for a baking project.

Click here for Jeremy Hollis' curriculum vitae