Rate My Professor Jennifer Cash

Jennifer Cash is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology within the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis. She received her B.S. in Zoology from Kent State University, where she conducted undergraduate research on VEGF signaling under Dr. Gail Fraizer. Cash earned her Ph.D. in Structural Biology from the University of Cincinnati, studying the regulation of TGF-β signaling pathways and learning X-ray crystallography techniques in Dr. Thomas Thompson's laboratory. She then completed postdoctoral training in Structural Biology at the University of Michigan, focusing on mechanisms in downstream GPCR signaling, including RhoGEF pathways under Dr. John Tesmer, and extending her expertise to cryo-electron microscopy with Dr. Michael Cianfrocco. In July 2020, she joined UC Davis as an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of the Cash Lab, located in Briggs Hall.

Cash's research centers on the structural biology and regulation of Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RhoGEFs), enzymes that activate small GTPases critical for cytoskeleton dynamics, cell migration, proliferation, and growth. Her laboratory employs biochemical assays, cellular imaging, X-ray crystallography, and cryo-electron microscopy to dissect RhoGEF function, their interactions with regulators and effectors, and the molecular mechanisms underlying their dysregulation in diseases such as cancer progression and metastasis. This work identifies potential therapeutic targets for pathological conditions involving aberrant RhoGEF activity. Key publications include "Discovery of Small Molecules that Target the P-Rex1 PIP3-binding Site and Inhibit P-Rex1-dependent Functions in Human Neutrophils" (Molecular Pharmacology, 2020), "Cryo-electron Microscopy Structure and Analysis of the P-Rex1–Gβγ signaling scaffold" (Science Advances, 2019), "Structural and Biochemical Characterization of the Pleckstrin Homology Domain of the RhoGEF P-Rex2 and Its Regulation by PIP3" (Journal of Structural Biology: X, 2019), "Structural and Biochemical Characterization of the Catalytic Core of the Metastatic Factor P-Rex1 and Its Regulation by PtdIns(3,4,5)P3" (Structure, 2016), and "Development of a small-molecule screening method for inhibitors of cellular response to myostatin and activin A" (Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 2013). She is affiliated with the Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Graduate Group and serves as Faculty Director of the Biological Electron Microscopy Facility at UC Davis. The Cash Lab actively recruits and mentors graduate students, postdocs, junior specialists, and undergraduates.