This is what I do all day with my time, I'm a PhD student in the Human and Molecular Genetics Program at the University of Texas Health Science Center associated with UT-MD Anderson Cancer Center (try saying all of that in one breath, no really, it's tough).  I started in the fall of 2000, and I joined Elizabeth Travis' Lab in the Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology. 

What would ERO have to do with Human Genetics?  Well, our lab studies the genetic basis of lung injury, namely pulmonary fibrosis.  Before I start spouting my proposal (any of the many drafts are readily available, just send me an email), I'll just warn you this is going to be a SIMPLIFIED version of what we study.  Pulmonary fibrosis is a genetic, degenerative disorder marked by collagen deposition on the alveolar cells of the lung.  This leads to impaired lung volume since those areas of the lung sandwich on top of each other, and I can quantify this by measuring the percent of the lung that has "fibrosed."  To answer the initial question, we're in ERO because a side effect of lung irradiation is fibrosis, and understanding the genetic component to this aberrant wound healing process will have tremendous health benefits.  

Mouse models are the easiest and most effective methods of studying complex traits, like fibrosis, which is controlled by many genes.  So, I spend a lot of my time with different types of mice that have varying genetic backgrounds.  And, I get the mice from the mecca of mice, Jackson laboratories (which is where I stole that cute mouse intro from).  My trip to Bar Harbor was held at JAX where I got educated on the mouse as a model for human disease and learned techniques for dissecting them to my benefit (literally and figuratively).

So, here are some pics of my lab and the people that make it work.  I'll be here for awhile, so check up for some fresh pics or links to my publications (yes, plural, once I find these genes on Chromosome 17, it's going to be BIG!):