PEOPLE

Lab Personnel

Ashley W. Seifert (PI)

Assistant Professor

awseifert@uky.edu

Adam Cook

Research Technician

abcook217@uky.edu

Shishir Biswas

PhD Student

shishir.biswas@uky.edu

Collaborators

Malcolm Maden (pictured left in photo with Paul Martin). Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Florida. Malcolm served as my postdoctoral adviser, mentor, tennis partner, and is a renowned regeneration and developmental biologist. Malcolm and I collaborate intellectually on multiple aspects of regeneration. Paul Martin was instrumental in helping us initiate our work with African spiny mice and conducts wound healing and regeneration research across a broad array of animals.

James R. Monaghan (pictured to the right). Assistant Professor, Northeastern University. James is a gifted experimental and molecular biologist interested in appendage and nervous system regeneration in axolotls. Additionally, James has been pioneering stable transgenesis in the axolotl system using tools developed for zebrafish and other model organisms. We are currently developing a project that builds on our collaboration with the Nexus Biology Group exploring how regenerative ability in the axolotl limb declines following metamorphosis.

Stephen G. Kiama Acting Director of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies and Professor of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology, Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology, University of Nairobi. Dr. Kiama and I are collaborating (with Vanessa Ezenwa) on research that tests how biases in immunity impacts regeneration in African spiny mice. As a visiting professor in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology I advise graduate students with Dr. Kiama working on wound healing and regeneration in mammals. We are also working together to develop opportunities that can bridge the gap between biomedical research in East Africa and the United States.

Sarah Calve (pictured at left) Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University. Dr. Calve and I share an interest in how the extracellular matrix can control cell behavior in the context of development, repair and regeneration. Sarah has been developing new methods to visualize the matrix in whole embryos and in different injury paradigms. We are currently exploring how the extracellular matrix may control the regenerative response in African spiny mice.

Vanessa Ezenwa Associate Professor, Odum School of Ecology and the Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia. Dr. Ezenwa and I are collaborating (with Dr. Kiama) on a project designed to examine how inflammation and immunity affect regenerative ability in wild populations of African spiny mice. Our project is co-funded through NSF and IOS.

The Nexus Biology Group (pictured at left). Ashley W. Seifert (developmental biologist), Adrian C. Stier (community ecologist), Matthew D. Smith (behavioral and evolutionary ecologist), Bret Pasch (physiological ecologist), Francois Michonneau (evolutionary biologist) and James R. Monaghan (molecular biologist). The Nexus Biology Group is a scientific working group committed to investigating biological systems utilizing a multidisciplinary approach. Our last collaboration examined how fundamental traits affect appendage regeneration in salamanders. We are currently brainstorming our next project. Stay tuned.