We use Drosophila genetics to study wound repair and regeneration. Read on for more information about the lab and our work and follow us on Bluesky: @rachelsmithbolton.bsky.social
Undergrads: we do not have any openings for new undergrads right now. We will post a link to an application here when we are ready to interview new candidates.
Most recent lab news:
August 2026: Rachel is promoted to full Professor.
May 2026: Check out Snigdha Mathure‘s preprint on how debris is removed during imaginal disc regeneration! https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.04.722804
March 2026: Congratulations to Felicity Hsu for defending her fabulous thesis!
March 2026: Snigdha Mathure gives a fantastic platform talk at the Annual Drosophila Research Conference!
December 2025: Felicity Hsu‘s paper is out in Development! We show that Myc and Tor activate nested zones of growth and increased translation in the regeneration blastema, and that cell competition occurs during regeneration. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204760
December 2025: Welcome to Nicholas Magdadaro – new graduate student in the lab! We are so excited that you have joined us!
November 2025: Congratulations to Connor Powers for winning Outstanding Poster Award at the departmental (CDB) retreat!
November 2025: Congratulations to Snigdha Mathure for winning Outstanding Flash Talk at the departmental (CDB) retreat!
November 2025: Congratulations to Anish Bose for defending his groundbreaking thesis!
October 2025: Snigdha Mathure gives a great talk at the Midwest Drosophila Research Conference.
August 2025: Congratulations to Connor Powers for winning an Outstanding Poster Award at the MCB retreat!
August 2025: Congratulations to Anish Bose for winning Outstanding Talk at the International Society for Regenerative Biology Meeting in Madison Wisconsin!
June 2025: Anish Bose‘s paper is out in Science Advances! We show that Zelda is crucial for the exit from regeneration. Congrats to Anish, Keaton, Surabhi, and Sai for their hard work and perseverance. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads5743
May 2025: Congratulations to undergraduates Chandril (Sai) Kodali and Jamie Gonzalez for graduating with High Distinction and winning Research Achievement Awards!
May 2025: Congratulations to Kaela Maghinang for winning the Tom and Cynthia Cycyota Research Scholarship!
March 2025: Check out Felicity Hsu‘s preprint on the roles of Myc, Tor, and cell competition in the regeneration blastema! https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.15.643479
December 2024: Welcome to Connor Powers – new graduate student in the lab! We are so excited that you have joined us!