Tara Deans
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Adjunct Associate Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics
Synthetic Biology, Stem Cells, Delivery Systems, Regeneration
Molecular Biology Program
Biological Chemistry Program
Education
B.S. Washington State University
Ph.D. Boston University
Research
My research program utilizes molecular biology, genetic engineering, and mathematical
modeling to develop functional platforms of synthetic biology tailored for applications
in stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, drug delivery, cell-based therapeutics,
and disease monitoring. My lab also interfaces synthetic biology and biomaterials
to engineer bioinspired dynamic microenvironments to enhance stem cell proliferation
in vitro.
Based upon the need for improved tools to enhance the production of platelets and
red blood cells in vitro to be used for therapeutic applications, our lab has three
synergistic focus groups to study hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) cell fate: (1) Build
novel genetic tools to control the contributions of intrinsic cues on HSC proliferation
and differentiation (synthetic biology), (2) Engineer genetically interactive biomaterials
to control the extrinsic cues on HSC proliferation and differentiation (coupling synthetic
biology with biomaterials), and (3) Engineering cells to deliver therapeutic biomolecules
to sites of injury and/or disease (synthetic biology).
References
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Healy CP, Deans TL, Genetic circuits to engineer tissues with alternative functions. Journal of biological engineering 2019; 13: 39
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Weisenberger MS, Deans TL, Bottom-up approaches in synthetic biology and biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology 2018; 45 (7): 599-614
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Fitzgerald M, Gibbs C, Shimpi AA, Deans TL, Adoption of the Q Transcriptional System for Regulating Gene Expression in Stem Cells. ACS Synth Biol 2017 Aug 14; :
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Deans TL, Grainger DW, Fussenegger M, Synthetic Biology: Innovative approaches for pharmaceutics and drug delivery. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2016 Oct 1; 105 (Pt A): 1-2
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MacDonald IC, Deans TL, Tools and applications in synthetic biology. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2016 Oct 1; 105 (Pt A): 20-34
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Lam A, Deans TL, A noisy tug of war: the battle between transcript production and degradation in the liver. Dev Cell 2015 Apr 6; 33 (1): 3-4
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Deans TL, Singh A, Gibson M, Elisseeff JH, Regulating synthetic gene networks in 3D materials. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012 Sep 18; 109 (38): 15217-22
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Deans TL, Elisseeff JH, The life of a cell: probing the complex relationships with the world. Cell Stem Cell 2010 Jun 4; 6 (6): 499-501
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Deans TL, Elisseeff JH, Stem cells in musculoskeletal engineered tissue. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2009 Oct; 20 (5): 537-44
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Deans TL, Cantor CR, Collins JJ, A tunable genetic switch based on RNAi and repressor proteins for regulating gene expression in mammalian cells. Cell 2007 Jul 27; 130 (2): 363-72