Phil Newmark

Burnell R. Roberts Chair in Regenerative Biology

Area:

• Regenerative Biology

Phone:

(608) 316-4105

Email:

[javascript protected email address]

Research website

Research in my laboratory seeks to understand why some animals can regenerate missing or damaged organs. To this end we study flatworms known as planarians that can regenerate entire new animals from tiny fragments of the body; this amazing ability relies on stem cells that the animal maintains throughout life. By studying the planarian we hope to understand how stem cells are regulated to produce missing tissues and organs in the context of a whole organism. Insights gained from our basic research on planarian biology have also led us to study parasitic flatworms, like schistosomes and tapeworms. As we learn more about how schistosomes infect their hosts and reproduce inside them, we hope to devise new strategies for controlling these devastating parasites that infect hundreds of millions of people in the developing world.

Education

BA, Biology, Boston University

PhD, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder

Honors

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

CAREER Award, National Science Foundation

Damon Runyon Scholar, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

University Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

American Association for Advancement of Science, Fellow

Selected Publications

• Roberts-Galbraith, R.H., Brubacher, J.L., and P.A. Newmark. 2016. A functional genomics screen in planarians reveals regulators of whole-brain regeneration. eLife 5: e17002.
• Saberi, A., Jamal, A., Beets, I., Schoofs, L., and P.A. Newmark. 2016. GPCRs direct germline development and somatic gonad function in planarians. PLOS Biology 14: e1002457 (cover).
• Collins III, J.J., Wendt, G.R., Iyer. H., and P.A. Newmark. 2016. Stem cell progeny contribute to the schistosome host-parasite interface. eLife 5: e12473.
• Rozario, T. and P. A. Newmark. 2015. A confocal microscopy-based atlas of tissue architecture in the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta.  Experimental Parasitology 158: 31-41.
• Roberts-Galbraith, R.H. and P. A. Newmark. 2015. On the organ trail: insights into organ regeneration in the planarian. Curr. Opin. Gen. Dev. 32: 37-46.
• Wang, B., Collins III, J.J., and P. A. Newmark. 2013. Functional genomic characterization of neoblast-like stem cells in larval Schistosoma mansoni. eLife 2:e00768. 
• Sikes, J.M. and P. A. Newmark. 2013. Restoration of regeneration in a planarian with limited regenerative ability. Nature 500: 77-80.
• Chong, T., Collins III, J.J., Brubacher, J.L., Zarkower, D., and P. A. Newmark. 2013. A sex-specific transcription factor controls male identity in a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Nature Communications 4: 1814.
• Collins III, J.J., Wang, B., Lambrus, B.G., Tharp, M., Iyer, H., and P. A. Newmark. 2013. Adult somatic stem cells in the human parasite, Schistosoma mansoni. Nature 494: 476-479.
• Roberts-Galbraith, R.H. and P. A. Newmark. 2013. Follistatin antagonizes Activin signaling and acts with Notum to direct planarian head regeneration. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 110: 1363-1368.