Christina Laukaitis, MD, PhD, FACP

Assistant Professor

Clinical Information
Clinical Focus: 

Cancer Genetics

Medical Genetics

General Medicine

Clinical Practice Sites: 
The University of Arizona Cancer Center - North Campus
The University of Arizona Medical Center - University Campus
Research Information
Research Program: 
5. Gastrointestinal Cancer
Member Status: 
Associate Member
Year of Membership Acceptance: 
2008
Summary of Research Activity: 

I hypothesize that genetic risk factors have been missed because association studies have sought single nucleotide polymorphisms that associate with risk, but have ignored structural variation causing gene copy number changes. One focus of my research is to look for gene copy number variation (CNV) in candidate genes in the vitamin D, polyamine, and selenium pathways, as well as selected other genes linked to colon cancer risk in order to identify genetic risk factors for colorectal neoplasm.

A second research direction addresses appropriate targeting of chemoprevention strategies. I am participating in a project to test the safety of using DFMO and sulindac as a chemopreventive strategy in children with FAP, which we hope to follow with a study of efficacy.

Visit the Laukaitis Laboratory site to learn more

Selected Publications: 

1. Laukaitis, C. M., Critser, E. S. and Karn, R. C. (1997) Salivary androgen-binding protein (ABP) mediates sexual isolation in Mus musculus. Evolution. 51(16): 2000-2005.

2. Knight, B., Laukaitis, C. M., Akhtar, N., Hotchin, N. A., Edlund, M. and Horwitz, A. R. (2000) Visualizing cell migration in situ. Current Biology. 10: 576-585. PMID: 10837222

3. Laukaitis, C. M., Donais, K., Webb, D. J., and Horwitz, A. F. (2001) Differential dynamics of a5 integrin, paxillin, and a-actinin during formation and disassembly of adhesions in migrating cells. Journal of Cell Biology. 153(7):1427-1440. PMID: 11425873

4. Talley, H. M., Laukaitis, C. M., Karn, R. C. (2001) Female preference for male saliva: Implications for sexual isolation of Mus musculus subspecies. Evolution. 55(3): 631-634. PMID: 11327170

5. Karn, R.C. and Laukaitis, C.M. (2003) Characterization of two forms of mouse salivary androgen-binding protein (ABP): Implications for evolutionary relationships and ligand-binding function. Biochemistry. 42(23):7162-7170. PMID: 12795612

6. Laukaitis, C.M., Dlouhy, S.R., and Karn, R.C. (2003) The mouse salivary androgen-binding protein (ABP) gene cluster on chromosome 7: Characterization and evolutionary relationships. Mammalian Genome. 14:679-691. PMID: 14694904

7. Emes, R.D., Riley, M.C., Laukaitis, C.M., Goodstadt, L., Karn, R.C., and Ponting, C.P. (2004) Rapid duplication and sequence diversification within the rodent androgen-binding protein (ABP) gene cluster. Genome Research. 14(8):1516-1529. PMID: 15256509

8. Laukaitis, C.M. and Karn, R.C. (2005) Evolution of the secretoglobins: A genomic and proteomic view. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 84:493-501.

9. Laukaitis, C.M., Dlouhy, S.R., Emes, R.D., Ponting, C.P., and Karn, R.C. (2005) Diverse spatial, temporal, and sexual expression of recently duplicated androgen-binding protein genes in Mus musculus. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 5:40. PMID: 16018816

10. Laukaitis, C.M., Heger, A., Blakley, T.D., Munclinger, P., Ponting, C.P., and Karn, R.C. (2008) Rapid bursts of Abp gene duplication occurred independently in diverse mammals. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 8:46. PMID: 18269759

11. Karn, R.C. and Laukaitis, C.M. (2009) Gene duplication and evolution in a volatile region of the mouse (Mus musculus) genome. Genome Biology and Evolution. 2009:494-503. PMID: 20333217

12. Karn, R.C., Young, J.M. and Laukaitis, C.M. (2010) A candidate subspecies discrimination system involving a vomeronasal receptor gene with different alleles fixed in M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus. PLoS One. 5(9): e12638. PMID: 20844586

Collaborative Research: 

Xin Zhou, Yuan Wei, Fang Xie, Christina M. Laukaitis, Robert C. Karn, Kerri Kluetzman, Jun Gu, Qing-Yu Zhang, Dean W. Roberts, and Xinxin Ding*

Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY (X.Z, Y.W., F.X., K.K., J.G., Q.-Y.Z., X.D.); College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (C.M.L., R.C.K.); Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR (D.W.R.)

Under review (2010), Molecular Toxicology

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Reinforcement selection acting on the European house mouse hybrid zone

BARBORA VOŠLAJEROVÁ BÍMOVÁ,*,† MILOŠ MACHOLÁN,† STUART J. E. BAIRD,‡ PAVEL MUNCLINGER,§ PETRA DUFKOVÁ,-,* CHRISTINA M. LAUKAITIS,¶ ROBERT C. KARN,¶ KENNETH LUZYNSKI,** PRISCILLA K. TUCKER,** and JAROSLAV PIÁLEK*

*Department of Population Biology, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno and Studenec, Czech Republic, †Laboratory of Mammalian Evolutionary Genetics, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, ASCR, Brno, Czech Republic, ‡CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal, §Biodiversity Research Group, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic, -Department of Genetics, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic, ¶College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, **Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

Under Review (2010), Molecular Ecology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bio sketch: 
application/msword iconLaukaitis_biosketch_11_10.doc
Professional Information
Board Certifications: 

American Board of Internal Medicine, 2006

American Board of Medical Genetics, 2009

Professional Affiliations: 

ACP-ASIM

ASHG

SSE

Academic Information
Fellowship: 
Medical Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Residency: 
Internal Medicine, St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN
Doctorate: 
University of Illinois
Medical School: 
University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign
Undergraduate School: 
Butler University, Indianapolis, IN