Nicole Garneau, PhD

Curator of Human Health
PhD, 2009, Colorado State University
303.370.6086
nicole.garneau@dmns.org

Dr. Garneau joined the museum’s Health Science Department in 2009 and is a curator for the Museum’s newest permanent exhibit Expedition Health. Dr. Garneau’s research interests include human genetics and how our own unique DNA affects how you live and adapt to the world around you, from what we eat to how we defend ourselves against viruses. Additionally, her community interests and involvement surround science education and making science part of a regular dialogue in the community. Prior to her curator position, Dr. Garneau consulted in Colorado’s bioscience community in the areas of public affairs and legislation, venture capitalism and university technology transfer. Her doctorate studies in Microbiology were completed at Colorado State University and her bachelors of arts in Genetics was awarded from Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Dr. Garneau joins the research team of Dr. Bridget Coughlin to explore how very small changes in a persons’ DNA can have a huge impact on how they taste certain flavors. The study examines how the ability to taste a bitter compound could be related to ancestry, meaning that the plants that were available to different people in different parts of the world over 500 years ago could have affected the way our tastes (and genes) evolved. Additionally, the study investigates the genetic and body mass index variations between those individuals who have a strong sense of taste to those that taste foods less intensely. This research project is unique because it is executed by citizen-scientist volunteers who will enroll Museum visitors in the study and collect the data, and that the goal is not only to learn more about the way such small genetics changes affect our lives, but also to have community access to genetic research.

• Dr. Garneau's Curriculum Vitae (PDF | 169KB)

• Genetics of Taste: Flavor for Health
• Blue Tongue Blog

Garneau, N.L., Wilusz, C.J. and Wilusz, J. (2008) Chapter 5. In vivo Analysis of the Decay of Transcripts Generated by Cytoplasmic RNA Viruses. Methods in Enzymology. Volume 449: 97-123.

Garneau, N.L., Sokoloski, K.J., Opyrchal, M., Neff, C.P., Wilusz, C.J., Wilusz, J. (2008) The 3’ Untranslated Region of Sindbis Virus Represses Deadenylation of Viral Transcripts in Mosquito and Mammalian Cells. Journal of Virology. Jan;82(2):880-92.

Garneau, N.L., Wilusz, J., Wilusz, C.J. (2007) The Highways and Byways of mRNA Decay. Nature Reviews, Molecular Cell Biology. Feb;8(2):113-26.

Vasudevan, S., Garneau, N., Tu Khounh, D., Peltz, S.W. (2005) p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase/Hog1p Regulates Translation of the AU-Rich-Element-Bearing MFA2 Transcript. Molecular and Cellular Biology. Nov;25(22):9753-63