Kelly McLaughlin

Kelly Ann McLaughlin (born 1968) is an American biologist who has made contributions to the field of developmental biology and made strides in science education and outreach. She is currently an associate professor of Biology at Tufts University and director of the Graduate Institute for Teaching (GIFT).
== Early life and academic career ==
McLaughlin was born and raised in Holden, Massachusetts. Since childhood, she had been fascinated by nature all around her. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College in 1990 with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. Her senior honors thesis at Wheaton College was completed on the subject of neural circuitry mechanisms under the supervision of F. Rob Jackson (Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology).
Continuing her work in biology, she earned her Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology in 1996 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (working in the lab of Barbara Osborne). This research aimed to identify mechanisms involved with apoptosis (programmed cell death) during the development of the immune system. Discoveries resulting from this research include the requirement of Proteasome-dependent activity in the Mitochondrion of Thymocyte during apoptosis induced by glucocorticoids as well as the role of oxygen in apoptosis of thymocytes.
Her post-doctoral training was in the Cell Biology department of Harvard School of Medicine in the laboratory of Mark Mercola in the field of developmental biology. Discoveries from this research include the role of Notch signaling pathway|Notch signaling during cardiac and pronephros precursor development and germ layer patterning. McLaughlin established her independent lab at Tufts University in 2001.
== Scientific research ==
Currently the McLaughlin lab at Tufts University studies how complex structures such as tissues and organs are formed during development and repaired after injury, one of the least understood biological processes. Regulation of gene expression|Gene expression regulation guides cells to develop into their unique identities and assemble into more elaborate, three-dimensional structures with unique physical and physiological properties. The mechanisms needed to create cell diversity, organize cell movement, and regulate tissue development, are an ongoing area of research in the field of science. The McLaughlin lab has three main goals: to understand the mechanism of organ development, remodeling, and repair in vertebrates.
== Science education outreach ==
McLaughlin is also heavily involved in science education outreach. She is currently the Director of the Graduate Institute for Teaching (GIFT), a program that is designed to prepare doctoral students at Tufts University for a career in teaching at the university level. Her civic activities have also included the Teachers as Scholars (TAS) program, a professional development program for K-12 teachers that provides a space for instructors to talk about academic issues as well as the overlap between research and education, the Other Side of Science Initiative (a program that provides undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students with professional development programs related to life after graduation), and a science fair judge at several local K-12 schools.
== Partial bibliography ==
* Pinet, K., Deolankar, M.*, Leung, B.*, and McLaughlin, K.A. (2019) Tissue remodeling: adaptive correction of craniofacial defects in pre-metamorphic Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Development. doi: 10.1242/dev.175893.
* Jewhurst, K. and McLaughlin, K.A. (2019) Recovery of the Xenopus laevis heart from ROS-induced stress utilizes conserved pathways of cardiac regeneration. Development, Growth and Differentiation. doi: 10.1111/dgd.12602
* Pinet, K. and McLaughlin, K.A. (2019) Mechanisms of physiological tissue remodeling in animals: manipulating tissue, organ, and organism morphology. Developmental Biology. doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.04.001
* McLaughlin, K.A. and Levin, M. (2018) Bioelectric signaling in regeneration: mechanisms of ionic controls of growth and form. Developmental Biology Jan 15;433(2):177-189. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.08.032.
* Pitcairn, E., Harris, H.*, Epiney, J.*, Pai, V. P., Lemire, J.M., Ye, B., Shi, N-Q., Levin, M., and McLaughlin, K.A. (2017) Coordinating heart morphogenesis: a novel role for Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels during cardiogenesis in Xenopus laevis. Communicative and Integrative Biology. 10:3, e1309488.
* Droz, S. and McLaughlin, K.A. (2017) Use of Xenopus Frogs to Study Renal Development/Repair. Model Systems of Kidney Development and Disease. Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation. Volume: Kidney Development and Disease. Editors: M. Kloc and J. Z. Kubiak Springer. 
* Jewhurst, K. and McLaughlin, K.A. (2016) Beyond the mammalian heart: fish and amphibians as a model for cardiac repair and regeneration. Journal of Developmental Biology, 4, 1-17 (Special Issue - Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration) doi:10.3390/jdb4010001.
== Awards and honors ==
=== Teaching awards ===
* NRC/HHMI, National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences, 2008
* Tufts University, Undergraduate Initiative in Teaching Award (UNITE), 2006
* Harvard College, Certificate of Distinction in Teaching Award (Derek Bok Center), 1998
* University of Massachusetts, Excellence in Teaching Award, Teaching Assistant, 1991
=== Grants and fellowships ===
* Allen Discovery Center, The Paul G Allen Frontiers Group (member), 2016-2020
* American Heart Association, NCRP Innovative Research Grant Co-PIs Levin/McLaughlin, 2013-2015
* National Science Foundation, (BIO/IOS), 2009-2013
* NRC/HHMI Summer Institute Fellowship, 2008-2009
* FRAC-Marshall Research Award, Tufts University, MA, 2006-2007
* American Heart Association (National) - Scientist Development Grant, 2003-2007
* American Heart Association (Northeast) - Scientist Development Grant, 2003-2006
* National Kidney Foundation Fellowship, 2000-2002
* Bunting Fellowship; Radcliffe for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 2000-2001
* National Research Service Award, National Institutes of Health, 1997-2000
Category:1968 births
Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni
Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
Category:People from Holden, Massachusetts
Category:American women biologists