Regina Powers, PhD

  • Assistant Professor
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Affiliated Programs

Education

  • PhD, Biological Sciences (2022)
    University of California San Diego (CA)
  • BS, Biology (2015)
    Ursinus College (PA)

About Me

I received my PhD from UC San Diego where I studied how neurons use their cytoskeleton during neuron development. After my PhD I conducted postdoctoral research at Tufts University School of Medicine investigating synapse development in C. elegans. At Tufts I was also an NIH IRACDA postdoctoral fellow. This fellowship provides extensive training in mentoring, inclusive pedagogy, and evidence-based teaching methods, as well as undergraduate teaching experiences and research training.

Through my graduate and postdoctoral experiences teaching, researching, and mentoring, I have learned how important it is to ensure every student feels like they belong in science. I strive to make my classroom and lab a place where students know they can learn by being themselves, trying new things, making mistakes, and asking questions. My own journey in science started with a research experience as an undergraduate, and so my goal is to help students find their passion and goals within science and help them achieve them.

Research Interests

My research uses C. elegans, a microscopic roundworm with a sequenced genome and simple nervous system, to ask questions about how nervous systems develop and function. I am particularly interested in how molecules that connect synapses, called cellular adhesion molecules, regulate synapse development and neural circuit function. 

Many cellular adhesion molecules are known to contribute to neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, but there are many unanswered questions about the basic biology of how these molecules help build and maintain the synapse. If we better understand the role that cellular adhesion molecules are playing at the synapse, the better equipped we will be to develop treatments for neurological disorders. In my lab we use a combination of genetics, molecular biology, and behavioral assays to tackle these questions. 
 

Publications

  • Rennich, B., Powers, R., Moores, S., Hodul, M., Juo, P. (2025) The insulin-like peptide INS-27 mediates a muscle-to-neuron feedback signal coupling muscle activity with AMPA receptor trafficking. PLOS Genetics, 21(7), e1011786.
  • Powers, R., Hevner, R. Halpain, S. (2023). The Neuron Navigators: Structure, function, and evolutionary history. Frontiers of Molecular Neuroscience, 15
  • Powers, R., Daza, R., Koehler, A., Courchet, J., Calabrese, B., Hevner, R., Halpain, S. (2022). Growth cone macropinocytosis of neurotrophin receptor and neuritogenesis are regulated by Neuron Navigator 1. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 33(7).
  • Calabrese, B., Powers, R., Slepian, A., Halpain, S. (2019). Post-differentiation replating and culturing of human pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons for high-content screening of neuritogenesis and synapse maturation. Journal of Visualized Experiments.