Process Book: Morton Laboratory

Brigham and Womens Hospital, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, NRB 160 Boston, MA

Prepared by

Prepared for

Studio 5
Simmons College
300 Fenway, Boston, MA

Morton Laboratory,
Brigham and Womens Hospital

Kendall Bauer
Creative Team
kendall.bauer@simmons.edu
Rachel Corning
Project Manager
rachel.corning@simmons.edu
Liza Labossiere
Primary Contact
liza.labossiere@simmons.edu
Helen Li
Creative Team
helen.li@simmons.edu

Linda Johnson
Tammy Kammin

Table of Contents
Team
Situation Analysis
Proposal
Hours
Gannt Chart
Process
Deliverables

Team
Kendall Bauer Creative Team
Kendall is a senior at Simmons College pursuing a double major in Marketing and
Communications with a minor in Media Arts. Currently, she is the Marketing Communications Intern for Simmons College. After graduation she hopes to blend her business
and creative backgrounds to build a meaningful career path. When she is not in class
or working, Kendall enjoys traveling, choreographing for the Simmons College Dance
Company, skiing, and spending time with family and friends.

Rachel Corning Project Manager

Rachel is a senior at Simmons College pursuing a B.A. in Communications with a concentration in Media Arts and a Minor in Radio. She previously worked as a Communications
intern at Brigham and Womens Hospital and is currently a teaching assistant in the film
photography lab. Rachel rows for the Simmons varsity crew team, loves One Direction,
and hopes to get her skydiving license soon.

Liza LaBossiere Primary Contact

Liza is a senior at Simmons College pursuing a B.A. in Communications with a
concentration in Media Arts and minor in Public Relations and Marketing Communications. Liza has interned with the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company as their
Marketing/PR intern during their 20th Anniversary Season production of King Lear.
Currently, she is working part time for JBPR, a small public relations consultant based in
Cambridge, MA. In her spare time, Liza loves singing, cuddling her puppy during Netflix
marathons, or curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee.

Helen Li Creative Team

Helen is a senior at Simmons College pursuing a degree in Web Design and development. She is currently a graphic design intern at Draper Labs in Cambridge, MA and has
previous experience working with several New York startups. After spending a semester
in Copenhagen, Denmark, she hopes to work in the field of user experience/interaction
design abroad after graduation. When she is not geeking out over good typography, she
enjoys reading political novels, taking down the patriarchy, and petting dogs.

Situation Analysis
Morton Lab is the laboratory of Cynthia Casson Morton, PhD, William Lambert
Richardson Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and
Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Director of Cytogenetics at
Brigham and Womens Hospital. The labs overarching area of research is molecular
cytogenetics, or the study of genetic inheritance with the study of cell structure,
especially for human chromosome analysis for the detection of inheritable diseases
(dictionary.com). Under that umbrella, Dr. Mortons research and studies take three
unique forms: uterine leiomyomata, hereditary hearing loss and cytogenetic approaches
to gene discovery for developmental disorders.
Finding Genes for Fibroids is the name of the current study being conducted on
uterine leiomyomata at Morton Lab. Uterine leiomyomata are noncancerous pelvic tumors,
usually treated by a hysterectomy or myomectomy. The goals of this study are to
define the causes of fibroids, to develop and test treatment options, and provide current
scientific information and resources to women with fibroids.
The hearing research at Morton Lab uses expressed sequences from a human fetal
cochlear library, a cochlear cDNA microarray, and mouse models of human deafness
disorders to identify genes involved with hearing and deafness disorders. The primary
goals for the hearing research are to identify deafness genes, understand the function
of various proteins in the inner ear and investigate gene expression in the normal and
hearing impaired ear.
The Developmental Genome Anatomy Project (DGAP) has had National Institutes
of Health (NIH) funding since 1999 through the National Institute of General Medical
Sciences (NIGMS). The main goal of DGAP is to identify apparently balanced
chromosomal rearrangements in patients with multiple congenital anomalies and then to
use these chromosomal rearrangements to map and identify genes that are disrupted or
dysregulated in critical stages of human development.
Morton Lab has requested that the Studio 5 team help them to redesign and generally
improve their website, and update the information on it. Morton Lab has its own website,
and each area of research has its own individual site, for which the links are provided on
the Morton Lab site. While redeveloping those sites is outside the scope of the project,
they would like any thoughts or ideas on tying all four sites together. With the help of the
Studio 5 team, Morton Lab would like to create a central web presence.

Proposal

Proposal

Proposal

Proposal

Proposal

Proposal

Hours

Kendall Bauer:
Rachel Corning:

12

Liza LaBossiere:

Helen Li:

20.5

Total:

41.5

Gannt Chart
TASKS

SEPT 17 - 24 SEPT 24 - OCT 1 OCT 1 - 8 OCT 8 - 15 OCT 15 - 22 OCT 22 - 29 OCT 29 - NOV 5 NOV 5 - 12 NOV 12 - 19 NOV 19 - 26 NOV 26 - DEC 3 DEC 3 - 10

Introductory Meeting
Clarification of website redesign and communications plan
Develop wireframes
Present mockups & receive feedback
Take and edit employee headshots
Create preliminlary website mockups
Present version 1 mockups & receive feedback
Develop copy for homepage, about lab, and glossary
Approve and revise copy
Revise Website mockups
Present version 2 mockups & receive feedback
Finalize Mockups
Create brand identity guide for website with deliverables
Complete project

Process
First Draft Mockups

Contact page; People page

Home page; Glossary

Cynthia Morton page; Current Members page

Process
Second Draft Mockups

Home page

Contact page

People page

Current Members Page

Process
Second Draft Mockups

About Cynthia Morton page

Glossary page

Deliverables
Final Mockups

Home page

Contact page

Deliverables
Final Mockups

People page

Current Members page

Deliverables
Final Mockups

About Cynthia Morton page

Glossary page

Deliverables
Communications/Branding Plan

Deliverables
New Home Page Copy
Located in the Longwood Medical Area, we at Morton Laboratory address issues in the human chromosome
using evolving techniques in molecular cytogenetics. In particular we are interested in looking at chromosomal
rearrangements in constitutional and acquired cytogenetic disorders. Currently, we have long-term projects under
way involving fibroids, congenital anomalies, and hearing and deafness disorders.
In one project, we seek to identify genes that predispose women to develop uterine leiomyomata (fibroids), which are
common benign pelvic tumors that are the most frequent indication for hysterectomy in the United States.
In another project known as DGAP (Developmental Genome Anatomy Project), we aim to identify genes involved in
human development. In association with major congenital anomalies as the biological reagents for gene discovery,
we are using naturally-occurring human chromosomal rearrangements.
We also seek to identify genes involved in hearing and deafness disorders using expressed sequences from a human
fetal cochlear library, a cochlear cDNA microarray, and mouse models of human deafness disorders.

Deliverables
Glossary Content
Allele An alternative version of a gene. An individual inherits two alleles, or versions, for each of their genes. If
the individual inherits two of the same alleles for a gene, they are homozygous for that gene, and if they inherit two
different alleles for a gene, they are heterozygous for that gene.
Balanced Reciprocal Translocations Occurring at a rate of about 1 in 500 in the general population, balanced
reciprocal translocations happen when breaks occur in two or more different chromosomes and the resulting DNA
fragments swap places. Because no chromosome material is lost or gained in this type of translocation, the majority
of carriers of a balanced reciprocal translocation do not have any symptoms. Symptoms can occur occasionally
when children are born with de novo balanced reciprocal translocations, especially when more than two different
chromosomes are involved. This is thought to be due in part to disruption of important genes at the chromosome
breakpoints.
COCH A protein coding gene associated with deafness.
Cochlear EST (Expressed Sequence Tags) Expressed sequence tags are used to identify gene transcripts and help
to determine gene sequence. Human cochleas were collected by the Pathology Department at Brigham and Womens
Hospital and were used to create a cDNA library of hearing-related genes.
Cytogenetics The microscopic study of the structure and function of chromosomes in cells.
Deletions A deletion involves loss of a segment of a chromosome and can occur in any part of any chromosome. If a
segment from near the centromere is lost, it is a proximal deletion. If the segment is lost from nearer to the end of the
chromosome (the telomere), then the deletion is called a distal deletion. If there is just one break in the chromosome,
then the deletion is called a terminal deletion. When there are two breaks in the arm of the chromosome with the
intervening segment being lost and the remaining parts of the chromosome joining up, it is called an interstitial
deletion.
DFNA9 A form of adult-onset progressive hearing loss caused by a mutation in the COCH gene.
Duplications A duplication occurs when an extra copy of a segment of a chromosome is present.
Etiology The causes of a disease or condition.
Fibroids (uterine leiomyomas) The most prevalent type of non-cancerous pelvic tumor found in women. Fibroids
originate from the smooth muscle layer of the uterus and are composed of smooth muscle, collagen, and other
extracellular matrix materials.
Insertions Insertions occur when a segment of one chromosome is inserted into a gap in another chromosome.
Unless a critical gene is altered at breakpoint, carriers of insertional rearrangements should not have any symptoms,
but there is an increased risk of producing a child with either a deletion or a duplication of chromosome material.
Inversions Inversions occur when there are two breaks in a single chromosome. The segment between the

Deliverables
Glossary Content continued
breakpoints turns 180 degrees and reinserts itself into the gap left in the chromosome. Unless important genes are
disrupted, inversions do not usually cause problems in the carrier, but there is a risk of producing sperm or eggs with
unbalanced chromosomes.
Karyotypes A persons chromosome make-up. Karyotypes are identified using a system called the International
System for Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature (ISCN). Karyotype codes are written so that the number of
chromosomes in a persons cells come first, followed by their sex chromosome make-up and then by a description of
any chromosome disorder. For example, a normal male karyotype would be described as 46,XY and a normal female
karyotype as 46,XX.
Positional cloning A method used to identify the location of a gene for a specific disease when no information about
the gene or disease is known.
Presbycusis A type of sensorinerual hearing loss related to age. Sensorinerual hearing loss results from damage to
the inner ear or the pathway from the inner ear to the brain.
Robertsonian Translocations Occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1000 in the general population, Robertsonian
translocations happen when the short arm of certain chromosomes are lost and the remaining long arms fuse
together. A person with a Robertsonian translocation has a total chromosome number of 45. Robertsonian
Translocation increase the risk of miscarriage or of producing children with an unbalanced chromosome make-up.
Rings A ring chromosome forms when the ends of both arms of the same chromosome are deleted and the
remaining broken ends of the chromosome join together to make a ring shape. Usually it is the missing DNA that
is significant, as a person with a ring chromosome has a terminal deletion of both the short and the long arms of
the chromosome. However, if the ring chromosome is present as an extra chromosome, then it is the chromosome
material that has not been deleted that is significant.
Structural disorders Structural disorders are caused by breakages in a chromosome. They can either happen
spontaneously can be inherited from a parent. Structural disorders include various types of translocation, deletions,
ring chromosomes, duplications, inversions and isochromosomes. For more information on structural disorders, visit
the Unique Charity website here:
http://www.rarechromo.org/html/DisorderGuides.asp
Translocation Translocation occurs when DNA is transferred from one non-homologous chromosome to another. Several types of translocation include reciprocal translocations, Robertsonian translocations, and insertional
translocations.
Unbalanced Translocations Unbalanced translocations result when carriers of balanced reciprocal translocations
produce offspring with part of one chromosome missing and part of another extra one. Such translocations are
unbalanced and may lead to miscarriage or the birth of children with symptoms including learning difficulties and
physical disabilities.