Jessica Whited - US grants
Affiliations: | Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States |
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The funding information displayed below comes from the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools and the NSF Award Database.The grant data on this page is limited to grants awarded in the United States and is thus partial. It can nonetheless be used to understand how funding patterns influence mentorship networks and vice-versa, which has deep implications on how research is done.
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High-probability grants
According to our matching algorithm, Jessica Whited is the likely recipient of the following grants.| Years | Recipients | Code | Title / Keywords | Matching score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 — 2008 | Whited, Jessica L | F32Activity Code Description: To provide postdoctoral research training to individuals to broaden their scientific background and extend their potential for research in specified health-related areas. |
Cell Lineage Analysis in Vertebrate Limb Regeneration @ Harvard University (Medical School) [unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Regenerative processes are poorly understood. This proposal aims to expand scientific understanding of how regeneration occurs in vertebrate limbs. In urodele amphibians, regeneration of a lost limb is thought to occur by dedifferentiation of remaining tissues to create a blastema, followed by cell proliferation and patterning events that direct the redifferentiation of cells to create components of the new limb. In Aim 1 of this proposal, individual cell lineages within a regenerating axolotl limb will be traced to determine the source of cells used for dedifferentiation and the fate of these cells within the new limb. The potential contribution of stem cells to limb regeneration in mammals will be explored in Aim 2. In mammals, limb regeneration is restricted to digit tips and becomes increasingly restricted distally with age. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that a specific set of stem cells, msxl-expressing cells, found at the digit tips confers regenerative ability. Testing this hypothesis will involve transplanting msxl cells to more proximal locations and determining if they can induce regeneration there. If so, can the cells be manipulated to allow regeneration of proximal elements? [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] |
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| 2015 — 2020 | Whited, Jessica L | DP2Activity Code Description: To support highly innovative research projects by new investigators in all areas of biomedical and behavioral research. |
Leveraging Single-Cell Analysis to Elucidate Mechanisms of Vertebrate Limbregeneration @ Harvard University Humans and other mammals have extremely limited postnatal regenerative abilities, and these limitations pose a significant challenge to health and quality of life. In contrast to humans, axolotl salamanders regenerate many organs and appendages, such as limbs, with astonishing success. Axolotl limbs are very similar anatomically to human limbs, so they offer an ideal opportunity for discovering regenerative mechanisms that might lead to the development of future therapeutics. In my new laboratory, we are investigating the molecular mechanisms of limb regeneration in axolotls so that we can later apply this knowledge to understanding why humans cannot regenerate limbs. An outstanding question is why highly-regenerative organisms use a structure called a blastema, where internal progenitor cells accumulate, to drive regeneration. Blastema cells are heterogeneous in their lineage and likely their potentials, but very little is known about how these attributes are controlled or even how progenitor cells are cued to become activated and join the blastema. To understand these questions, we have initiated a large RNA-seq based approach, and we are coupling this approach to powerful new tools for examining gene function in these organisms. In our first analysis, we have profiled the transcriptomes of individual cells from two key tissues, at one time point. We also generated a tissue-coded de novo transcriptome to use as a reference for gene assignment and for differential gene expression analysis. The initial individual cells sequenced were fully-formed blastema cells and wound epidermis cells, which overly the blastema and are thought to control key aspects of regeneration. We chose this time point, 23 days post- amputation, as the first sampling point because at this time the blastema population is at its height for numbers of cells but there are not yet any overt signs of differentiation. We have thus far discovered many transcripts that are specifically upregulated in individual cells in these important tissues, and we have performed functional analyses with two of the genes. In this proposal, we aim to use this powerful strategy to identify the gene expression changes that support the transition from intact tissue to activated progenitor cells during the creation of the blastema. We will profile the transcriptomes of more individual cells, but now we will query cells harvested from time points between amputation and the full blastema. In parallel, we will further examine genes uncovered in the first analysis, specifically those that show binary expression patterns and may therefore distinguish subtypes of blastema cells or wound epidermis cells. We will use recently-developed loss-of-function and gain-of-function technolgies to interrogate specific genes in vivo, in regenerating limbs. This work is innovative because it takes a completely a priori approach to discovering mechanisms of limb regeneration, it does so at the single-cell level, and it capitalizes on powerful new techniques for examining gene function. |
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| 2019 | Whited, Jessica L | R13Activity Code Description: To support recipient sponsored and directed international, national or regional meetings, conferences and workshops. |
Salamander Models in Cross-Disciplinary Biological Research @ Harvard University ABSTRACT Research using a diverse array of salamander species is now exploding with the advent of genomic and experimental technologies recently made operational in these organisms. Some of the most fantastic phenomenological observations from pre-molecular times are now within reach of modern molecular biology. Chief among these phenomena are the remarkable regenerative abilities exhibited by many salamanders even as adults. Gaining a true molecular understanding of how salamanders regenerate complex tissue such as limbs, spinal cord, heart, gut, ovaries, lungs, and others, will fuel future research, both comparative and translational, in regenerative medicine. This summit aims to bring together?for the first time?all researchers actively engaged in using salamander models, as well as researchers contemplating entry into these systems, to share results, techniques, ideas, and future project plans, for the purpose of synergizing efforts toward the greater good. It will lay the foundation for broad, network-based joint efforts in activities such as genome sequencing and annotation, reagent collation and genetic stock repository creation, and consortium grant application planning. This summit will be an open-invitation event meant for both PIs and trainees (undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows). Symposia will feature invited speakers as well as speakers chosen from submitted abstracts. Special events will be planned for trainees (poster session, fellowship workshop) and PIs (networking and strategic planning events). This agenda fills a large void in the conference landscape as there are currently no broad-based salamander-specific events. We have developed a preliminary agenda and speaker list. Importantly, we have selected a venue (Northeastern University, Boston, MA) that capitalizes on the annual Society for Developmental Biology meeting occurring in Boston immediately after the proposed Salamander Summit. Funding will be used to reduce (or remove) the registration costs for trainee- level attendees, with priority given to under represented minority students. We will advertise these support mechanisms throughout the developmental and regenerative biology community, and we will explicitly encourage applications from underrepresented minorities. ! |
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| 2019 — 2021 | Whited, Jessica L. | R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Identifying Roadblocks to Limb Regeneration @ Harvard University PROJECT SUMMARY (ABSTRACT) Humans have exceedingly limited natural limb regenerative abilities. Limb loss due to injury or disease is a major health problem. About two million Americans currently live with the consequences of limb loss, and this number is expected to rise because of increased prevalence of key risk factors such as diabetes and other diseases that affect vasculature. The consequences of amputation are profound for patients and most must rely on prosthetics, which are not perfect. A regenerative medicine approach may one day be feasible if it were understood how total limb replacement can be naturally achieved. To gain this understanding, we are employing an animal model, the axolotl salamander, which can completely regenerate limbs following amputation, even as adults. Axolotl limbs are anatomically similar to human limbs, and their initial development is similar as well. Thus, they offer a blueprint for how a complex, three-dimensional limb can be regrown and functionally integrated into the existing stump following amputation. Key issues that must be resolved if this paradigm is to be translated into the human forum are how axolotls activate and cultivate the progenitors for the new limb. Additionally, the cellular and molecular forces that might antagonize successful regeneration must also be understood as these might normally exist in human patients and thereby prevent regeneration. Future research could elucidate whether the molecular and cellular forces guiding these events are not activated in mammals, or whether they terminate prematurely, or whether they are overtly blocked by other factors. The approach is to first thoroughly understand how limbs do regenerate, and then later use this information to develop hypotheses for future possible therapies. In this proposal, we leverage our recent finding that axolotls can be compromised in their ability to regenerate limbs following repeated amputation. This finding presents a unique opportunity to identify factors that may be limiting in regeneration or may antagonize it. We will examine activation of progenitor cells following successive amputations to determine if these cells are exhausted in regenerative failure. We will also consider the role of macrophages and myofibroblasts in regenerative failure following repeated amputation. We will test if the regenerative limitations we uncovered operate at a local level, within the limb itself and close to the site of amputation, or if they act more systemically, elsewhere in the body. Finally, we will investigate the activities of two genes whose expression becomes dysregulated following repeated amputation, amphiregulin and eyes absent 2, both of which have human correlates. This research will capitalize on the opportunities presented by our new model with the hope that increased understanding of regenerative limitations will be essential for future regenerative medicine approaches in patients. |
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| 2021 | Lehoczky, Jessica A (co-PI) [⬀] Whited, Jessica L. |
R13Activity Code Description: To support recipient sponsored and directed international, national or regional meetings, conferences and workshops. |
16th International Conference On Limb Development and Regeneration @ Harvard University ABSTRACT The vertebrate limb stands as one of the premier models of development, evolution, and regeneration. Limb-focused research has flourished over past several decades, largely owing to the breadth of biological questions the limb can address and the ease of experimentation of the model in many diverse species. Much of the cellular and molecular biology behind how the limb primordia develops into a complex, multi-tissue structure has been elucidated by scientists dedicated to understanding the limb. Moreover, much progress has been made on understanding the genetics of how limbs form properly, how this can change with evolutionary pressure, and how this relates to human congenital diseases. Importantly, there are still outstanding questions and we are now on the cusp to finally fully understand these processes at a deeper and more granular level than ever before. Recent technological developments allow for probing the gene expression of individual cells, defining the chromatin architectures that drive cellular- and tissue-level decisions, making meaningful molecular comparisons across diverse species, and understanding how the physical environment interacts with cells. Applications of these new technologies within limb models is transforming the field. For over the past 30 years, an international group of researchers focused on the limb convene biennially for the International Conference on Limb Development and Regeneration. This meeting draws top scientists from across the globe to spend 4 days immersed in the newest research surrounding limb development, regeneration and evolution. The 16th meeting of this conference is scheduled for August 9th-12th, 2021, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This meeting will have an open registration and is expected to draw over 150 participants. It will feature three keynote speakers (representing each of limb evolution, development, and regeneration), over 20 invited speakers, and over 30 speakers chosen from participant abstracts. Notably, all talks other than the keynotes will be the same length, allowing trainees and junior investigators to showcase their ideas and progress with as much time as more established investigators. The overall program will be balanced by gender, and participation by members of underrepresented groups will be encouraged through several planned routes. Financial support is being sought to offset the costs of conference venue and travel for invited speakers. A portion of the support will also be allocated toward travel assistance for trainees and underrepresented groups. The conference co- organizers are Jessica Lehoczky, PhD (Brigham & Women?s Hospital/Harvard Medical School) and Jessica Whited, PhD (Harvard University); both are investigators in the field of limb regeneration. |
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