Professional Snapshot
Honors and Awards
- Dean’s Fellowship, Stanford University (2008)
- Postdoctoral National Research Service Award, National Institutes of Health (2009)
Professional Education
| Bachelor of Science: | University of Virginia, Chemistry (2002) |
| Doctor of Philosophy: | California Institute of Technology, (2009) |
Faculty Advisor
Web Site Links
Scientific Focus
Research Interests
Dr. Amy Eastwood’s career has not just bloomed—it has rocketed. From her takeoff in high school where her chemistry teacher inspired her to pursue a career in science, Dr. Eastwood obtained her Ph.D. at Caltech University, which in turn drew her interest to look at her research on ion channels in a more natural environment.
Houston, we have found C. elegans. Dr. Eastwood came to Stanford University in late 2008 and now, with the Stanford University’s Dean Fellowship and a NIH NRSA Fellowship under her belt, Dr. Eastwood is studying structure-function relationships in MEC-4 channels. She is piecing apart how the MEC-4 channel functions on the molecular scale by investigating how specific amino acids participate in gating the channel. Dr. Eastwood says that being able to work in a lab and participate in each one of her colleagues’ successes keeps her motivated, focused, and trusting that the lab is moving forward.
—Written by Stéphanie Keller-Busque, undergraduate at McGill University
Publications
- New insights into the therapeutic inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels. Channels (Austin). 2008 Jan-Feb; (1): 1-3
- Electrostatic contributions of aromatic residues in the local anesthetic receptor of voltage-gated sodium channels. Circ Res. 2008; (1): 86-94
- Calcium block of single sodium channels: role of a pore-lining aromatic residue. Biophys J. 2007; (7): 2341-9
- A cation-pi interaction discriminates among sodium channels that are either sensitive or resistant to tetrodotoxin block. J Biol Chem. 2007; (11): 8044-51
- A cation-pi interaction between extracellular TEA and an aromatic residue in potassium channels. J Gen Physiol. 2006; (6): 649-57
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