Kahlilia Morris-Blanco

Presidential Assistant Professor

Core Faculty, Penn Epigenetics Institute

Faculty Member, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

Faculty Member, Penn Cardiovascular Institute

Faculty Member, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism

3 75

Department: Cell and Developmental Biology

4 1 b

46 Contact information
41

415 Curie Boulevard
41 Clinical Research Building 364
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Email:
kahlilia.blanco@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

4 3 23

1f Graduate Group Affiliations 8

3 3 2 4 b 1f

13 Education:
21 9 B.S. 1a (Psychobiology) c
36 Southern Adventist University, 2008.
21 a Ph.D. 19 (Neuroscience) c
2c University of Miami, 2014.
c

3 27

Links
53 Lab Website
c

5 21

1f Post-Graduate Training
24 67 Predoctoral Graduate Student in Neurology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 2009-2014.
24 77 Postdoctoral Fellow in Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 2015-2019.
c

3 3 92 Permanent link
2 29

b6 > Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details a

1e 1d

Description of Research Expertise

d8 We investigate the role of epigenetics and mitochondrial dysfunction in aging and stroke pathophysiology. Our research merges neuroscience, genomics, and biochemistry with neurological applications.
e 29

Selected Publications

13b Chokkalla AK, Jeong S, Mehta SL, Davis CK, Morris-Blanco KC, Bathula S, Qureshi SS, Vemuganti R.: Cerebroprotective Role of N(6)-Methyladenosine Demethylase FTO (Fat Mass and Obesity-Associated Protein) After Experimental Stroke. Stroke 2023.

18f Morris-Blanco KC, Chokkalla AK, Kim T, Bhatula S, Bertogliat MJ, Gaillard AB, Vemuganti R.: High-Dose Vitamin C Prevents Secondary Brain Damage After Stroke via Epigenetic Reprogramming of Neuroprotective Genes. Translational Stroke Research 13(6): 1017-1036, Dec 2022 Notes: Epub 2022 Mar 20. DOI: 10.1007/s12975-022-01007-6.

110 Morris-Blanco KC, Chokkalla AK, Arruri V, Jeong S, Probelsky SM, Vemuganti R.: Epigenetic mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets in stroke. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 42(11): 2000-2016, Jul 2022.

18a Mehta SL, Chokkalla AK, Kim T, Bathula S, Chelluboina B, Morris-Blanco KC, Holmes A, Banerjee A, Chauhan A, Lee J, Venna VR, McCullough LD, Vemuganti R.: Long Noncoding RNA Fos Downstream Transcript Is Developmentally Dispensable but Vital for Shaping the Poststroke Functional Outcome. Stroke 52(7): 2381-2392, Jul 2021.

111 Morris-Blanco KC, Chokkalla AK, Bertogliat MJ, Vemuganti R.: TET3 regulates DNA hydroxymethylation of neuroprotective genes following focal ischemia. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 41(3): 590-603, Mar 2021.

ff Morris-Blanco KC, Kim T, Lopez MS, Bertogliat MJ, Chelluboina B, Vemuganti R.: Induction of DNA Hydroxymethylation Protects the Brain After Stroke. Stroke 50(9): 2513-2521, Sep 2019.

14a Kim T, Mehta SL, Morris-Blanco KC, Chokkalla AK, Chelluboina B, Lopez M, Sullivan R, Kim HT, Cook TD, Kim JY, Kim H, Kim C, Vemuganti R.: The microRNA miR-7a-5p ameliorates ischemic brain damage by repressing α-synuclein. Sci Signal 11: eaat4285, Dec 2018.

114 Li G, Morris-Blanco KC*, Lopez MS, Yang T, Zhao H, Vemuganti R, Luo Y: Impact of microRNAs on ischemic stroke: From pre- to post-disease. Prog Neurobiol Page: 163-164:59-78, 2018 Notes: *Co-First Author

10f Morris-Blanco KC, Kim T, Bertogliat MJ, Mehta SL, Chokkalla AK, Vemuganti R.: Inhibition of the Epigenetic Regulator REST Ameliorates Ischemic Brain Injury. Mol Neurobiol 56(4): 2542-2550, Apr 2019.

124 Koronowski KB, Khoury N, Morris-Blanco KC, Stradecki-Cohan HM, Garrett TJ, Perez-Pinzon MA.: Metabolomics based identification of SIRT5 and Protein Kinase C epsilon regulated pathways in brain. Front Neurosci. Jan 2018.

2c

7 1d

2c back to top
26 Last updated: 03/13/2025
34 The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania c