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Meet the Team

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Robby Bowles, PhD

Principle Investigator
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Orthopaedics

Dr. Bowles has spent 23 years studying the intervertebral disc (IVD) and related back pain, with a career spanning spine biomechanics at the University of Pennsylvania and IVD tissue engineering at Cornell University. After postdoctoral training at Duke University in pain mechanisms and gene delivery, he now combines these expertise using CRISPR gene regulation to address critical musculoskeletal challenges. His laboratory is distinguished as the first to modify a stem cell with CRISPR epigenome editing and the first to characterize ZNF865 , a novel regulator of senescence.

View My Profile
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Cansu Ümran Tunç, PhD

Research Associate

Dr. Tunç's research focuses on the design and synthesis of nanoparticles for mRNA delivery . Dr. Tunç is from Adana, Turkiye; she received her B.S. from Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkiye, majoring in Molecular Biology and Genetics, and her PhD in Biotechnology from Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkiye. In her free time, Dr. Tunç enjoys spending time with her son, camping, swimming, traveling, and reading.

Graduate Students

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Molly Czachor, BS

PhD Student

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Jonah Holbrook, BS

PhD Student

Ashley Ranere, MS

PhD Student

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Sydney Biddix

BS/MS Student

Undergraduate Students

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Viren Ghuman

Undergraduate Student

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Acacia LaPrade

Undergraduate Student

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Aidan Salisbury

Undergraduate Student

Lab Alumni

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Christian Lewis, PhD

Lab Alumni

Consultant –  Sunac Therapeutics
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Hunter Levis, PhD

Lab Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellow – Gullbrand Lab – University of Pennsylvania

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Sky Jalili, MS

Lab Alumni

Oncology Clinical Research Coordinator –  Intermountain Health
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Kamry Bailey, BS

Lab Alumni

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Brynne Byars, BS

Lab Alumni

J.D. Candidate –  Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law  – Arizona State University
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Matthew Trone, PhD

Lab Alumni

AAAS/ASME Science and Technology Fellow – US Senate

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Joshua Stover, PhD

Lab Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellow – Almarza Lab – University of Pittsburgh

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Jacob Weston, PhD

Lab Alumni

Scientist – Colossal Biosciences

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Niloofar Farhang, PhD

Lab Alumni

Regulatory Affairs Professional – ARUP Laboratories