Aron Geurts Lab
Aron Geurts, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor, Department of Physiology
ageurts@mcw.edu
Dr. Geurts is a professor in the department of physiology, Cardiovascular Research Center and Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine. He leads an NIH-funded research team focused on innovating novel approaches to genetic engineering and creating animal and cell models of complex genetic human diseases. He is a recipient of a prestigious New Innovator award from the Office of the Director of the NIH.
Michael Grzybowski
Laboratory Supervisor
mgrzybowski@mcw.edu
My role in Dr. Aron Geurts' lab is to help facilitate the creation of genetically modified models. I design nuclease reagents that are then created and validated in the Geurts lab that will be used to create these modifications. I am also responsible for the day to day operations in the lab. My research interests are mainly molecular biology and technology and how to create and develop animal models.
Akiko Takizawa
Research Scientist II
atakizawa@mcw.edu
My research interests are related to reproductive biology in rats. I am especially interested in assisted reproductive technology such as cryopreservation of gametes and zygotes, re-derivation and embryo manipulation. These technologies are reliable methods to preserve strains which were generated using new gene modification technologies such as Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and TAL Effector Nucleases (TALENs), to avoid breeding problems. I am also interested in the development of more effective sperm cryopreservation and nuclear transfer technology.
Jason Klotz
Research Technologist III
jklotz@mcw.edu
Under Dr. Geurts I help coordinate the business conducted in the Rat Transgenic Service Center. I also perform micro-injections and sperm cryopreservation for the Service Center.
Recent Publications
-
Establishing the hybrid rat diversity program: a resource for dissecting complex traits.
(Dwinell MR, Takizawa A, Tutaj M, Malloy L, Schilling R, Endsley A, Demos WM, Smith JR, Wang SJ, De Pons J, Kundurthi A, Geurts AM, Kwitek AE.) Mamm Genome. 2025 Mar;36(1):25-37 PMID: 39907792 PMCID: PMC11880076 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85217741215 02/05/2025
-
(Ray A, Yang C, Stelloh C, Tutaj M, Liu P, Liu Y, Qiu Q, Auer PL, Lin CW, Widlansky ME, Geurts AM, Cowley AW Jr, Liang M, Kwitek AE, Greene AS, Rao S.) Hypertension. 2025 Mar;82(3):476-488 PMID: 39723540 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85213707759 12/26/2024
-
Characterization of a novel variant in KCNJ16, encoding Kir5.1 channel.
(Xu B, Levchenko V, Bohovyk R, Ahrari A, Geurts AM, Sency V, Xin B, Wang H, Staruschenko A.) Physiol Rep. 2024 Oct;12(20):e70083 PMID: 39414394 PMCID: PMC11483507 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85206614453 10/17/2024
-
(Fitzpatrick M, Szalanczy A, Beeson A, Vora A, Scott C, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Der N, Chen R, Geurts AM, Woods LCS.) bioRxiv. 2024 Jun 16 PMID: 38916175 PMCID: PMC11195162 06/25/2024
-
Physiological role and mechanisms of action for a long noncoding haplotype region.
(Xue H, Mishra MK, Liu Y, Liu P, Grzybowski M, Pandey R, Usa K, Vanden Avond MA, Bala N, Alli AA, Cowley AW, Qiu Q, Greene AS, Rao S, O'Meara CC, Geurts AM, Liang M.) bioRxiv. 2024 May 18 PMID: 39282460 PMCID: PMC11398485 09/17/2024
-
A revamped rat reference genome improves the discovery of genetic diversity in laboratory rats.
(de Jong TV, Pan Y, Rastas P, Munro D, Tutaj M, Akil H, Benner C, Chen D, Chitre AS, Chow W, Colonna V, Dalgard CL, Demos WM, Doris PA, Garrison E, Geurts AM, Gunturkun HM, Guryev V, Hourlier T, Howe K, Huang J, Kalbfleisch T, Kim P, Li L, Mahaffey S, Martin FJ, Mohammadi P, Ozel AB, Polesskaya O, Pravenec M, Prins P, Sebat J, Smith JR, Solberg Woods LC, Tabakoff B, Tracey A, Uliano-Silva M, Villani F, Wang H, Sharp BM, Telese F, Jiang Z, Saba L, Wang X, Murphy TD, Palmer AA, Kwitek AE, Dwinell MR, Williams RW, Li JZ, Chen H.) Cell Genom. 2024 Apr 10;4(4):100527 PMID: 38537634 PMCID: PMC11019364 03/28/2024
-
(Ritter ML, Wagner VA, Balapattabi K, Opichka MA, Lu KT, Wackman KK, Reho JJ, Keen HL, Kwitek AE, Morselli LL, Geurts AM, Sigmund CD, Grobe JL.) Physiol Genomics. 2024 Mar 01;56(3):265-275 PMID: 38145289 PMCID: PMC10866620 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85185200180 12/25/2023
-
Histone Modifications and Their Contributions to Hypertension.
(Ray A, Stelloh C, Liu Y, Meyer A, Geurts AM, Cowley AW Jr, Greene AS, Liang M, Rao S.) Hypertension. 2024 Feb;81(2):229-239 PMID: 38031837 PMCID: PMC11229175 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85182776843 11/30/2023
-
(Stone W, Strege C, Miller W, Geurts AM, Grzybowski M, Riddle M, Lees C, Eide C, Keene DR, Tufa SF, Seelig D, McGrath J, Tolar J.) PLoS One. 2024;19(5):e0302991 PMID: 38722855 PMCID: PMC11081381 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85192799401 05/10/2024
-
(Ye C, Clements SA, Gu W, Geurts AM, Mathews CE, Serreze DV, Chen YG, Driver JP.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Dec 05;120(49):e2312039120 PMID: 38015847 PMCID: PMC10710095 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85178500431 11/28/2023
-
Protease-Activated Receptor 1-Mediated Damage of Podocytes in Diabetic Nephropathy.
(Bohovyk R, Khedr S, Levchenko V, Stefanenko M, Semenikhina M, Kravtsova O, Isaeva E, Geurts AM, Klemens CA, Palygin O, Staruschenko A.) Diabetes. 2023 Dec 01;72(12):1795-1808 PMID: 37722138 PMCID: PMC10658073 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85176576178 09/18/2023
-
(Szalanczy AM, Fitzpatrick M, Beeson A, Bui T, Dyson C, Eller S, Landry J, Scott C, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Geurts AM, Weiner JL, Redei EE, Solberg Woods LC.) Front Genet. 2023;14:1247232 PMID: 38323241 PMCID: PMC10844407 02/07/2024