Dr. Megan Jones’ research interests involved understanding the interplay of autophagy (a highly conserved cellular recycling pathway) and apoptosis (a highly conserved regulated cell death pathway) for cancer therapy. Her early work characterized a novel cell death pathway in which stalled autophagy initiates caspase-8-dependent apoptosis. Dr. Jones’ research expanded to seek an understanding of how bioactive sphingolipids regulate intracellular membrane trafficking for autophagy and cancer cell death.

Dr. Jones is the Assistant Director of Research Development. In this role, she brings along skills in proposal writing and grantsmanship and an interest in connecting others with resources to strengthen their research programs. Her responsibilities include managing the internal grant programs, assisting in the Pure project implementation at the College of Medicine, and serving as a liaison to Penn State InfoReady for the College of Medicine.