Nancy Carrasco

Carrasco was born in Mexico City, Mexico. She earned her M.D. and M.S. degree in biochemistry from the School of Medicine and the School of Chemistry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1980 and 1981 respectively.[5] Following graduation, she became a postdoctoral researcher at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.[2] During her postdoctoral research she worked with mentor Howard Ronald Kaback.[6] While Carrasco worked there, the Kaback team discovered the use of lactose permease to find the presence of E. Coli which forms into the Proteliposomes.[6] In 1987, she joined the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and in 2011 she moved to the Yale School of Medicine.[1]

At Yale, Carrasco took the C.N.H. Long Professor of Physiology chair in 2018 and researched cancer and the liver at the Cancer and Liver Center[7] where she was also a member of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, the organizations of Genomics, Genetics and Epigenetics, and the Office of Cooperative Research.[2] In 2019, Carrasco began a career as a professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.[1] She is expected to lead as chair of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt.[1]

Nancy Carrasco was the first person to clone and extensively characterize at the molecular level the sodium/iodide symporter, and the key plasma membrane protein that activates the transport of iodide in the thyroid, lactating breast, and other tissues.[7] Much of her research has been published in different prominent medical journals including Nature Medicine.[7]

• She serves on the editorial board of The Journal of General Physiology.[8]
• She served as the President of the Society of Latin American Biophysicists.[9]
• She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, as a foreign associate, in 2015.[3]

Nancy Carrasco is married to Samuel Zyman, a composer with a degree in Medicine and a doctorate in Music Composition who is currently a faculty member at the Juilliard School.[1] Nancy and Samuel met on their first day of Medical School.[1] They have a son, Erik Zyman, who has a doctorate in linguistics and is a faculty member at the University of Chicago.[10][1]

Martín M, Modenutti CP, Peyret V, Geysels RC, Darrouzet E, Pourcher T, Masini-Repiso AM, Martí MA, Carrasco N, Nicola JP. (2019) A Carboxy-Terminal Monoleucine-Based Motif Participates in the Basolateral Targeting of the Na+/I- Symporter. Endocrinology. 160: 156–168. PMID 30496374 DOI: 10.1210/en.2018-00603[11]

Ferrandino G, Kaspari RR, Spadaro O, Reyna-Neyra A, Perry RJ, Cardone R, Kibbey RG, Shulman GI, Dixit VD, Carrasco N. (2017) Pathogenesis of hypothyroidism-induced NAFLD is driven by intra- and extrahepatic mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114: E9172-E9180. PMID 29073114 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1707797114[11]

Ferrandino G, Kaspari RR, Reyna-Neyra A, Boutagy NE, Sinusas AJ, Carrasco N. (2017) An extremely high dietary iodide supply forestalls severe hypothyroidism in Na(+)/I(-) symporter (NIS) knockout mice. Scientific Reports. 7: 5329. PMID 28706256 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-04326-z[11]

Ravera S, Reyna-Neyra A, Ferrandino G, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. (2017) The Sodium/Iodide Symporter (NIS): Molecular Physiology and Preclinical and Clinical Applications. Annual Review of Physiology. 79: 261–289. PMID 28192058 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-022516-034125[11]

Ferrandino G, Nicola JP, Sánchez YE, Echeverria I, Liu Y, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. (2016) Na+ coordination at the Na2 site of the Na+/I- symporter. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID 27562170 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1607231113[11]

Renier C, Do J, Reyna-Neyra A, Foster D, De A, Vogel H, Jeffrey SS, Tse V, Carrasco N, Wapnir I. (2016) Regression of experimental NIS-expressing breast cancer brain metastases in response to radioiodide/gemcitabine dual therapy. Oncotarget. PMID 27363025 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.10238[11]

Ravera S, Quick M, Nicola JP, Carrasco N, Amzel LM. (2015) Beyond non-integer Hill coefficients: A novel approach to analyzing binding data, applied to Na+-driven transporters. The Journal of General Physiology. 145: 555–63. PMID 26009546 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.201511365[11]

Nicola JP, Carrasco N, Masini-Repiso AM. (2015) Dietary I(-) absorption: expression and regulation of the Na(+)/I(-) symporter in the intestine. Vitamins and Hormones. 98: 1-31. PMID 25817864 DOI: 10.1016/bs.vh.2014.12.002[11]

Oikawa T, Wauthier E, Dinh TA, Selitsky SR, Reyna-Neyra A, Carpino G, Levine R, Cardinale V, Klimstra D, Gaudio E, Alvaro D, Carrasco N, Sethupathy P, Reid LM. (2015) Model of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinomas reveals striking enrichment in cancer stem cells. Nature Communications. 6: 8070. PMID 26437858 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9070[11]

Nicola JP, Reyna-Neyra A, Saenger P, Rodriguez-Buritica DF, Gamez Godoy JD, Muzumdar R, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. (2015) Sodium/Iodide Symporter Mutant V270E Causes Stunted Growth but No Cognitive Deficiency. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 100: E1353-61. PMID 26204134 DOI: 10.1210/jc.2015-1824[11]

Ravera S, Quick M, Nicola JP, Carrasco N, Amzel LM. (2015) Beyond non-integer Hill coefficients: A novel approach to analyzing binding data, applied to Na+-driven transporters. The Journal of General Physiology. 145: 555–63. PMID 26009546 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.201511365[11]

Arriagada AA, Albornoz E, Opazo MC, Becerra A, Vidal G, Fardella C, Michea L, Carrasco N, Simon F, Elorza AA, Bueno SM, Kalergis AM, Riedel CA.(2015) Excess iodide induces an acute inhibition of the sodium/iodide symporter in thyroid male rat cells by increasing reactive oxygen species. Endocrinology. 156: 1540–51. PMID 25594695 DOI: 10.1210/en.2014-1371[11]

• Pew Award (1989)[12]
• Beckman Young Investigators Award, Beckman Foundation (1991)[13]
• Maria Sibylla Merian Award (1998)[5]
• Marshall S. Horwitz Faculty Prize for Research Excellence (2009)[14]
• Light of Life Award, Light of Life Foundation (2010)[15]
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2015)[16]
• Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lecturer, American Thyroid Association (2016)[17]

The Pew Award is given based off biomedical research.[18] The Beckman Young Investigators Award is given to young members in the early stages of their careers in chemical and life sciences, providing them with research support.[19] Carrasco was the first person to be awarded the Maria Sibylla Merian Award, given by the Essen College of Gender Studies in 1998.[20] The Light of Life Award is given by the Light of Life Foundation to research that has impacted the understanding of Thyroid cancers.[15] The Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lecturer award is given to individuals who have provided major contributions to the research on thyroid.[21]