Jill A. Sakai 608-239-0813 jasakai@gmail.com http://www.jillsakai.com Education University
of Wisconsin-Madison, Neuroscience Training Program Ph.D.,
Neuroscience, expected December 2006 Advisor: Mary Halloran, Ph.D. University
of Rochester, Rochester, New York B.S.,
Biological Sciences with concentration in Neuroscience, May 1999 Writing Experience AAAS
Mass Media Fellow, Richmond Times-Dispatch science reporting intern Richmond,
Virginia, June-August 2006 Student,
Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop Santa
Fe, New Mexico, May 2006 Independent
Contractor, Clinical Care Options, LLC; continuing medical education February
2006-present Independent
Contractor for Emma Hitt, Ph.D., freelance medical writer November
2005-March 2006 Writer
for HHMI “Ask a Scientist” web-based science education program October
2005-present Research Experience HHMI
Predoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Mary Halloran, Ph.D. University
of Wisconsin-Madison, Neuroscience Training Program, September 2000-present Axon
guidance functions of Semaphorin3D during zebrafish nervous system development Biologist,
Laboratory of Steve Jacobson, Ph.D. Neuroimmunology
Branch, NINDS, NIH, September 1999-July 2000 Spontaneous proliferation of lymphocytes in patients with Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus-I Summer
Student Fellow, Laboratory of Mark Hahn, Ph.D. Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institute, June-September 1999 Characterization
of the lamprey aryl hydrocarbon receptor Undergraduate
Honors Thesis, Laboratory of David Holtzman, Ph.D. University
of Rochester, September 1997-May 1999 Proliferation in the regenerating vomeronasal epithelium in garter snakes following nerve lesion Summer
Undergraduate Researcher, Laboratory of Esther Gardner, Ph.D. New
York University School of Medicine, June-August 1998 Changes
in rhesus macaque hand grip shape during a prehension task Summer
Undergraduate Researcher, Laboratory of Ellengene Peterson, Ph.D. Ohio
University, June-August 1997 Identification
of brain areas involved in vestibular and visual sensory integration in turtle Mentoring and Teaching Experience Mentor
for Eagle Middle School science mentoring program Madison,
Wisconsin, January-April 2005 Mentor
for Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowship recipient senior honors thesis UW-Madison,
January 2003-May 2005 Instructor,
PEOPLE precollege enrichment program, week-long biomedical health unit UW-Madison,
June 2001, June of 2003-2005 Community
and local school outreach programs Madison,
Wisconsin, October 2001-present Laboratory
Teaching Assistant, Neurobiology Lab University
of Rochester, January-May 1999 Workshop
Leader, Organic Chemistry University
of Rochester, August-December 1997 Teaching
Assistant, Human Genetics and Evolution University of Rochester, August-December 1996 Professional Affiliation National
Association of Science Writers Academic Honors HHMI
Predoctoral Fellowship, 2001-present NSF
Predoctoral Fellowship (declined), 2001 UW-Madison
Graduate School University Fellowship, 2000 Phi Beta Kappa, Iota Chapter, inducted May 1999 Graduated
Magna cum Laude with Distinction in Research, May 1999 Golden
Key National Honor Society, 1998 Barry
M. Goldwater Scholarship, 1998 Academic Publications • Sakai,
J.A. and M.C. Halloran.
2006. Semaphorin3D guides laterality of retinal ganglion cell projections in
zebrafish. Development
133(6): 1035-1044. • Sakai,
J.A., M. Nagai, M.B.
Brennan, C.A. Mora, and S. Jacobson. 2001. In vitro spontaneous
lymphoproliferation in patients with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type
I-associated neurologic disease: predominant expansion of CD8+ cells. Blood 98(5): 1506-1511. • Nagai,
M., M.B. Brennan, J.A. Sakai, C.A. Mora, and S. Jacobson. 2001. CD8+ T cells are an in vivo
reservoir for human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I. Blood 98(6): 1858-1861. • Debowy,
D.J., K.S. Babu, E.H. Hu, M. Natiello, S. Reitzen, M. Chu, J. Sakai, and E.P. Gardner. 2001. New
applications of digital video technology for neurophysiological studies of hand
function. In R.J. Nelson (ed.), The Somatosensory System: Deciphering the
Brain's Own Body Image,
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