Dr. Bertuch is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular & Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also the director of the Bone Marrow Failure Program at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Her research interests are in the areas of telomere biology and bone marrow failure. Her laboratory conducts basic research into the mechanisms governing the structure, maintenance, and function of telomeres. She has made key contributions to the understanding of the functions the DNA repair factor Ku at telomeres in both the genetically tractable yeast model and human cells. She also conducts translational research in the area of dyskeratosis congenita, a bone marrow failure and cancer predisposition syndrome that results from a defect in telomere biology. Her work has focused on uncovering the molecular effects of germline mutations in telomere biology genes that result in severely short telomeres in children and the development of early-onset and severe manifestations of dyskeratosis congenita.