J. Adam Maxwell
B.S., Biology
University of Alabama - Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
I am originally from Childersburg, Alabama, a small town located about an hour south of Birmingham.  I graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2004 with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry.  As an undergraduate I began working in a research lab concerned with DNA-based vaccinations for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).  After graduation I continued with this lab at UAB and eventually at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria where I was involved in projects concerning safer modalities for AD vaccination as well as developing animal and in vitro models of Inclusion Body Myositis and Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome respectively.

I’m currently in my first rotation in the lab of Buddy Weissman where we are investigating the role of Snf5, a component of the SWI/SNF complex, and its role in Malignant Rhabdoid tumorigenesis.  Specifically, I am creating an inducible cell culture model of Snf5 expression in a line of malignant rhabdoid tumor cells as well as using chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis (ChIPs) to investigate Snf5 activity at the myogenin gene promoter region in MRT cell lines expressing myoD.

When I’m not studying or in the lab, I enjoy watching sports (especially football and hockey), cooking, gardening, and training bonsai trees.
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