Dena Grayson

Last updated

Dena Grayson
Dena Minning lo-res.jpg
Personal details
Born
Dena Minning

(1971-01-05) January 5, 1971 (age 53)
Melbourne, Florida, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse Alan Grayson (m. 2016)
Education University of Florida (BSc)
Washington University (MSc, MD, PhD)
Website Campaign website

Dena Minning Grayson (born Dena Minning, January 5, 1971) is an American medical doctor and researcher. In 2016, she ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 9th congressional district. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Dena Minning Grayson was born on January 5, 1971, in Melbourne, Florida. Grayson graduated from Melbourne High School in 1988 [2] where she was a member of the varsity soccer team that captured the Florida High School State Championship in 1987. [3] She earned her Bachelor of Science degree [4] from the University of Florida in 1992. After graduating from college, Grayson enrolled in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University School of Medicine, [5] where she earned an MD and a PhD in biochemistry and molecular cell biology. [4] [6] In 1999, The New York Times , [7] Science Daily and the Duke Chronicle [8] covered research on Ascaris hemoglobin [9] that Grayson had published in Nature , and stated, "The discovery may yield new therapies for diseases such as cancer, in which starving tumors of oxygen is a major therapeutic focus." [10] Grayson completed her internship in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. [11] [12]

Career

Grayson has a medical degree. In the early 2000s, she shifted her focus to medical research as a way of treating multiple patients by finding cures. [13] She worked as a biotechnology consultant at MEDACorp from 2002-2003. [14] From 2003 to 2008, Grayson served as an Associate Director of Licensing and Director of Medical Sciences at Amgen, and worked on developing treatments for cancers, asthma, anemia, hypercholesterolemia, heart failure, and pain. While at Amgen, she was selected as a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute in 2006. [15] Grayson then served as Vice President of Translational Sciences at 3-V Biosciences from 2008 to 2010, [14] where she oversaw the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs active against deadly viruses. She served as the Vice President of Translational Sciences for AlloCure from 2011 to 2014, where she led research on a mesenchymal stem cell therapy for acute kidney injury. In 2010, Grayson founded MedExpert Consulting, a biotechnology consulting company, where she helped research and develop BCX4430, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that is active against Ebola, Marburg, Yellow Fever, Zika, and other deadly viral diseases. [16] [17] [18] [19] Grayson briefly lobbied for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals for 3 months in 2013 and for 1 month in 2014 to fund research of a treatment for Ebola and other deadly viruses. [18] [20] In 2014, she was co-author of an article published in Nature on the efficacy of BCX4430 against Marburg virus [16] and of a paper on the activity of BCX4430 against Yellow Fever. [17]

Politics

In 2016, she ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 9th congressional district. [1] Since 2016, Grayson is a regular political commentator on Twitter, and asked onto media such as Fox News to speak on issues such as the Democrats proposal to reform elections. [21] Grayson attended the Michael Cohen hearing in February 2019. [22]

Personal

Since 2016, she has been married to former Congressman Alan Grayson. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Grayson's wife loses primary for his seat". August 31, 2016.
  2. ↑ Old Friends. "Melbourne High School - Class of 1988". Old Friends. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  3. ↑ Cheryl Gordon (February 27, 1987). "Pass Around The Award -- Melbourne Soccer Girls Share Honor". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Aspen Institute. "Fellow Profile - Dena Minning". Aspen Institute. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  5. ↑ Linda Sage (October 24, 1996). "Pike studies bucket brigade of cell messengers". Washington University Record: 3. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  6. ↑ "MSTP Alumni". Medical Scientist Training Program - Washington University. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  7. ↑ Blakeslee, Sandra (October 5, 1999). "Thanks to a 'Horrible Worm,' New Ideas on Hemoglobin". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  8. ↑ Ben Lopez (October 13, 1999). "Medical Center researchers discover new function of hemoglobin". The Chronicle. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  9. ↑ Minning, Dena M; et al. (August 2, 1999). "Ascaris haemoglobin is a nitric oxide-activated 'deoxygenase'". Nature. 401 (6752): 497–502. Bibcode:1999Natur.401..497M. doi:10.1038/46822. PMID   10519555. S2CID   3486708.
  10. ↑ ScienceDaily (October 5, 1999). "Parasite Overturns Traditional Beliefs About The Evolution And Role Of Hemoglobin". ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bloomberg Business Executive Profile - Dena M. Minning M.D., Ph.D." Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  12. ↑ "As Dem Rep. Grayson runs for Senate seat, girlfriend reportedly runs for his". FOX News. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Dena Grayson hosts free Health Clinic in East Orlando". The Orlando Political Observer. July 24, 2016. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Minning, Dena. "Dena Minning LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Leadership Programs 2006 Great Xpectations Class". The Aspen Institute. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  16. 1 2 Warren, T.K.; et al. (March 2, 2014). "Protection against filovirus diseases by a novel broad-spectrum nucleoside analogue BCX4430". Nature. 508 (7496): 402–405. Bibcode:2014Natur.508..402W. doi:10.1038/nature13027. PMC   7095208 . PMID   24590073.
  17. 1 2 Julander, Justin G.; Bantia, Shanta; Taubenheim, Brian R.; Minning, Dena M.; Kotian, Pravin; Morrey, John D.; Smee, Donald F.; Sheridan, William P.; Babu, Yarlagadda S. (2014). "BCX4430, a Novel Nucleoside Analog, Effectively Treats Yellow Fever in a Hamster Model". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 58 (11): 6607–6614. doi:10.1128/AAC.03368-14. PMC   4249364 . PMID   25155605.
  18. 1 2 Division, News (September 3, 2015). "HHS contracts to develop new Ebola drug". HHS.gov. Retrieved June 6, 2016.{{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  19. ↑ Pharmaceuticals, Biocryst. "Study Results From Zika Virus Infected Mice Treated With BCX4430 to be Presented at WHO Conference". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Lobby Disclosure Search". disclosures.house.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  21. ↑ Ingraham, Laura. "Are Dems trying to distract and divide with election reform plan?". YouTube.com. Fox News. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  22. ↑ Vankin, Jonathan. "Dena Grayson goes Viral". Inquisitr. Inquisitr. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  23. ↑ FOX. "New Florida power couple: Mr. and Mrs. Grayson". WOFL. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
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