Hometown: Dyersville, Iowa
Faculty mentor: Ryan Boudreau, PhD, associate professor of internal medicine – cardiovascular medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine
Degree program and anticipated graduation date: BS in biology – cellular and developmental track, May 2025

The research team in the Boudreau lab studies the systems that control gene expression in heart and brain disease. As part of this effort, Jasmyn Hoeger is investigating a group of genes that share a common control mechanism for how they produce proteins, which may also generate novel microproteins. Hoeger is working to understand the purpose of these microproteins and how stable they are. She is also studying how open reading frames, a part of the gene that comes before the main coding region, affect protein production and could be a target for gene therapy. Hoeger’s work will help broaden the range of genes included in genetic testing and lay a groundwork for developing new gene therapies.

After graduating in May 2025, Hoeger will pursue a PhD in biomedical sciences and continue her research training, working on creating gene therapies to treat and cure chronic human diseases.

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