Yana G. Kamberov, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genetics
Core member Skin biology and disease research center , Perelman School of Medicine
Member- Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism and Diabetes Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine
Trainer - Dermatology T32 training grant, Perelman School of Medicine
Member Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine
Vice Chair, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), University of Pennsylvania
Department: Genetics
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
538A Clinical Research Building
415 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6145
415 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6145
Education:
B.A. (Molecular Biology and Biological Anthropology)
University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
Ph.D. (Cell and Developmental Biology)
Harvard University, 2008.
Permanent linkB.A. (Molecular Biology and Biological Anthropology)
University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
Ph.D. (Cell and Developmental Biology)
Harvard University, 2008.
Description of Research Expertise
Research Interests: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of human skin appendage development, evolution, and regeneration.Keywords: skin appendages; development; human evolution; regeneration; niche/progenitor interaction; sweat gland, hair follicle, mammary gland; enhancer biology; mouse and human genetics
Research Details: Human skin harbors some of the most extreme and physiologically important evolutionary adaptations of our species. Research in the Kamberov lab seeks to discover how, when, and why these traits evolved, and to apply this knowledge in the development of therapeutic strategies to regenerate human skin and its critical derivatives: the sweat gland and the hair follicle. To this end, the lab leverages classical developmental genetics, high-throughput transcriptomics, in vivo genome editing in mouse and human skin, and comparative evolutionary genomics coupled with organismal level modeling and organotypic culture.
Rotation projects:
Molecular mechanisms of niche formation, maintenance, and function in the skin.
Comparative development and evolutionary divergence of primate skin appendages.
Lab Personnel:
PI: Yana Kamberov Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellows: Daniel Aldea Ph.D., Heather Dingwall Ph.D.
Graduate Students: Reiko Tomizawa (DSRB), Joan Donahue (DSRB)
Research Associate: Blerina Kokalari VMD
Selected Publications
Heather L. Dingwall, Reiko R. Tomizawa, Adam Aharoni, Peng Hu, Qi Qiu, Blerina Kokalari, Serenity M. Martinez, Joan C. Donahue, Daniel Aldea, Meryl Mendoza, Ian A. Glass, Birth Defects Research Laboratory (BDRL), Hao Wu, Yana G. Kamberov#: Sweat gland development requires an eccrine dermal niche and couples two epidermal programs. Developmental Cell 59(1), January 2024 Notes: # Corresponding author.Abigail R. Wark, Daniel Aldea, Reiko R. Tomizawa, Blerina Kokalari, Bailey Warder, Yana G. Kamberov#: Ectodysplasin signaling via Xedar is required for mammary gland morphogenesis. J Invest Dermatol 143(8): 1529-1537, Aug 2023 Notes: # Corresponding author.
Katherine J. Wu: We Must Learn to Love Our Sweat. The Atlantic Aug 2023.
Daniel Aldea, Blerina Kokalari, Yuji Atsuta, Heather L. Dingwall, Ying Zheng, Arben Nace, George Cotsarelis, Yana G. Kamberov: Differential modularity of the mammalian Engrailed 1 enhancer network directs sweat gland development. PLoS Genetics 19(2): e1010614, Feb 2023.
Daniel Aldea, Yana Kamberov: En1 sweat we trust: How the evolution of an Engrailed 1 enhancer made humans the sweatiest ape. Temperature 9(4): 303-305, Jan 2022.
Daniel Aldea, Yuji Atsuta, Blerina Kokalari, Stephen F. Schaffner, Rexxi D. Prasasya, Adam Aharoni, Heather L. Dingwall, Bailey Warder, Yana G. Kamberov#: Repeated mutation of a developmental enhancer contributed to human thermoregulatory evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 118(16): e2021722118 2021 Apr 2021 Notes: #Corresponding author.
Sarah Everts: The Joy of Sweat: The strange science of perspiration. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2021 Notes: Highlights my work on uncovering the genetic basis for the elaboration of eccrine glands in humans and the connection between sweating and human fur loss.
WHYY The Pulse Radio program: Why We Exercise. WHYY Philadelphia Public Radio Dec 2019 Notes: interview on the evolution of human thermoregulatory traits https://whyy.org/episodes/why-we-exercise/
Daniel Aldea, Blerina Kokalari, Christine Luckhart, Adam Aharoni, Paul R. Albert, Yana G. Kamberov#: The transcription factor Deaf1 modulates Engrailed-1 expression to regulate skin appendage fate. J Invest Dermatol 139(11): 2378-2381, Nov 2019 Notes: #Corresponding author.
Bridget Alex: Getting Naked. Discover Magazine 40(7): 62, Sep/Oct 2019 Notes: interview and highlight of 2018 Journal of Human Evolution paper.