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Jessica Whited, Ph.D.

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Jessica Whited’s laboratory is dedicated to understanding limb regeneration in axolotl salamanders. Her work focuses on developing genetic tools to manipulate gene expression at specific points in time during limb regeneration, and exploring early signaling events following wound healing that initiate the regenerative process.

Jessica Whited earned a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biology from MIT, where she studied in Dr. Paul Garrity’s laboratory. Her thesis focused on molecular mechanisms controlling the development and maintenance of cellular architectures in the Drosophila nervous system. In carrying out this research, Dr. Whited became interested in processes that may be required long after initial developmental events to ensure cells do not revert to immature behaviors, as well as processes that provoke such events in response to injury.

Dr. Whited worked in the laboratory of Dr. Cliff Tabin (Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics) as a postdoc studying total limb regeneration in axolotl salamanders. During this work, she developed several molecular tools that can be used to interrogate regenerating axolotl limbs.

Whited ran her first research group at the Brigham Regenerative Medicine Center, BWH Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. She joined HSCRB as an assistant professor in 2019.

  • Assistant Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology
  • Principal Faculty
    Harvard Stem Cell Institute

Lab

Whited Lab
Principal Investigator

Contact Information

Sherman Fairchild, 1st Floor, 7 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138
jessica_whited@harvard.edu

Faculty Assistant

Hani Singer
7 Divinity Avenue, Sherman Fairchild, 1st Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
hani_singer@fas.harvard.edu
(617) 495-5830

Related

Teaching

  • GENETIC 307

    Regeneration in Axolotls

    Graduate Course in Genetics, Units:4-16, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, department of Medical Sciences. Class Capacity: No Limit. Available for Harvard Cross Registration. Course Component: Reading and Research

    Course Information
  • DRB 330QC

    Experimental Approaches to Developmental Biology

    This laboratory course is designed to provide a survey of major topics and contemporary research in developmental and regenerative biology. Students will rotate in the laboratories of DRB faculty across the Harvard campuses and affiliated hospitals. Students engage with faculty and gain hands on experience in a variety of model systems, experimental techniques and research areas. Each day of the course will consist of a lecture followed by hands-on laboratory activities and interactive discussions. 

    This is an intensive January course. Open to first-year and second-year BBS students;[HDRB undergraduates with approval of the course director]. Not repeatable for credit.

    Course Information
  • SCRB 111

    Regeneration: Phenomena to Mechanisms

    How can some animals regenerate large pieces of their bodies following injury? This course will use both classical and current primary literature to explore the fascinating process of regeneration across phyla, covering both invertebrates and vertebrates. Students will learn to distill questions into specific, key experiments; to design experiments with meaningful controls; and to use data to refine, reformulate, and develop new hypotheses.

    Students will be engaged in group work throughout the semester. They will develop new Wikipedia pages about specific topics related to regeneration. As a final project, they will write and produce short videos centered on student-selected topics, and the course will culminate with a class-wide viewing event.

    Course Information
  • SCRB 50

    Building a Human Body: From Gene to Cell to Organism

    Through a series of lectures, application exercises and laboratory experiments, we will explore how the human body develops on a molecular level from gene to cell to organ. Ever wonder how you can make heart cells beat in a dish? Why can axolotls regenerate their limbs but humans cannot? How do neurites grow? Can we grow a brain in a cell culture dish? Come join us to discover the answers to these questions and more.

    Course Information

Featured Publications

  • Read Abstract
  • Leigh ND, Dunlap GS, Johnson K, Mariano R, Oshiro R, Wong AY, Bryant DM, Miller BM, Ratner A, Chen A, Ye WW, Haas BJ, Whited JL. 2018. Transcriptomic landscape of the blastema niche in regenerating adult axolotl limbs at single-cell resolution. Nature communications. 9(1):5153. Pubmed: 30514844 DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-07604-0
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  • Bryant DM, Johnson K, DiTommaso T, Tickle T, Couger MB, Payzin-Dogru D, Lee TJ, Leigh ND, Kuo TH, Davis FG, Bateman J, Bryant S, Guzikowski AR, Tsai SL, Coyne S, Ye WW, Freeman RM, Peshkin L, Tabin CJ, Regev A, Haas BJ, Whited JL. 2017. A Tissue-Mapped Axolotl De Novo Transcriptome Enables Identification of Limb Regeneration Factors. Cell reports. 18(3):762-776. Pubmed: 28099853 DOI:S2211-1247(16)31770-3
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  • Bryant DM, Sousounis K, Farkas JE, Bryant S, Thao N, Guzikowski AR, Monaghan JR, Levin M, Whited JL. 2017. Repeated removal of developing limb buds permanently reduces appendage size in the highly-regenerative axolotl. Developmental biology. 424(1):1-9. Pubmed: 28235582 DOI:S0012-1606(16)30873-9
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  • Farkas JE, Freitas PD, Bryant DM, Whited JL, Monaghan JR. 2016. Neuregulin-1 signaling is essential for nerve-dependent axolotl limb regeneration. Development (Cambridge, England). 143(15):2724-31. Pubmed: 27317805 DOI:10.1242/dev.133363
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  • Whited JL, Lehoczky JA, Tabin CJ. 2012. Inducible genetic system for the axolotl. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 109(34):13662-7. Pubmed: 22869739 DOI:10.1073/pnas.1211816109
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  • Whited JL, Cassell A, Brouillette M, Garrity PA. 2004. Dynactin is required to maintain nuclear position within postmitotic Drosophila photoreceptor neurons. Development (Cambridge, England). 131(19):4677-86. Pubmed: 15329347
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