University of Cape Town

Durban Girls' College

FENS Summer School 2016

Research Scientist at Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University

Research Scientist

My work as a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Psychiatry focuses on psychiatric genetics.  Specifically the study explores the the effect that major depression, telomere length and expression of telomere-related genes have on the development of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders in the context of early childhood trauma.

Postdoctoral fellow

I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the Medical University of South Carolina.  During this time my project focussed on the role of S-glutathionylation, a redox-sensitive post-translational modification, in the regulation of drug-related behaviour and neuroplasticity.

My work included:
Management and breeding of several mouse lines (including knockout mice).
Studies making use of the "drinking-in-the-dark" model of voluntary ethanol consumption in mouse.
Cocaine self-administration studies in both mouse and rat using operant conditioning chambers.
Cocaine preference studies using the conditioned place preference paradigm.
Analysis of dendritic spine morphology and density using Imaris XT.
Preparation of samples for mass spectrometry analysis.
Preparation of fixed brain samples for immunohistochemical analysis.
Imaging of immunohistochemical samples using both brightfield and fluorescent microscopy.
Determination of glutathione S-transferase activity using spectrophotometry.
Comparison of S-glutathionylation levels of specific proteins between experimental groups using Western Blot and the Oddysey CLx system.

Medical University of South Carolina

Postdoctoral Researcher

Problem-based learning facilitator

MBChB and BSc (physiology) practical demonstrator

Jacqueline Womersley