Spring 2025 BioE Seminar: Dr. Robby Bowles
Speaker: Dr. Robby Bowles, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Utah
Day and Date: Friday, April 18, 2025
Time: 10:45-11:45 AM
Location: HST L185
Abstract:
The development of CRISPR gene regulation systems have opened the door for novel gene and cell therapy strategies. While these systems allow for the targeted and precise regulation of gene expression and can be utilized to engineer cells for a multitude of applications, these systems are also very powerful tools for discovering novel biology and therapeutic targets. Here we will cover its use to neuromodulate pain and engineer cells for tissue engineering in the first part of the talk. We will explore our discovery of a novel regulator or senescence, ZNF865, using these systems and its broad potential applications to aging, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Personal Bio:
I have been studying the intervertebral disc (IVD) and related back pain for over two decades (23 years). I started as an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania investigating spine biomechanics, which ignited my interest in IVD tissue engineering strategies that target the regeneration and replacement of degenerative IVD tissue at Cornell University. Wanting a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of pain, I pursued postdoctoral training as an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University investigating the development and maintenance of pain in musculoskeletal preclinical animal models of osteoarthritis and peripheral neuropathies. This postdoctoral training had the added bonus of providing training in lentiviral gene delivery systems, drug delivery for inflammation, and gene editing/regulation. I have been primarily focused on combining these skill sets, and using CRISPR gene regulation, to solve critical problems in the musculoskeletal space. My laboratory has the distinction of being the first to modify a stem cell with CRISPR epigenome editing and the first to characterize ZNF865, a novel regulator of senescence. My laboratory is currently funded by the NIH to investigate CRISPR epigenome editing in multiple cell types.
The University of Utah Staff Profile
This event is free and open to the public. Please reach out to the Department of Bioengineering (inbioe@lehigh.edu) with any questions or comments.