Dr Jeff Dilworth received his PhD in 1997
from Queen's University (Kingston, ON) for his research with Dr Glenville Jones examining the metabolism of
vitamin D analogs, and how the altered stability of the drugs changed their
perceived biological activity in cultured cells. He then carried our his
post-doctoral training with Professor Pierre Chambon at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (Strasbourg, France) where he
established a chromatin-based in vitro
transcription system to characterize the mechanisms through which retinoic acid
activates gene expression. As a research associate working with Dr. Stephen
Tapscott at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, WA), he used his
background in transcription and epigenetics to begin exploring the mechanisms
regulating developmental gene expression programs.
In 2004, Dr Dilworth joined the
Regenerative Medicine Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute where he
is currently a Senior Scientist within the Sprott Center for Stem Cell Research.
His research team works to understand the epigenetic mechanisms controlling
cell fate decisions during muscle regeneration, and the role of DNA-bound
transcription factors in directing epigenetic enzymes to specific genes for
activation of cell-specific gene expression programs. Dr Dilworth also serves as the
Chair (Basic Science) of the Research Task Force for the Canadian Neuromuscular
Disease Network.
K. Nakka, S. Hachmer, Z. Mokhtari, R. Kovac, H. Bandukwala, C. Bernard, Y. Li, G. Xie, C. Liu, M. Fahalli, L. Megeney, J. Gondin, B. Chazaud, M. Brand, X. Zha, K. Ge, and F.J. Dilworth. JMJD3 activated hyaluronan synthesis drives muscle regeneration in an inflammatory environment. Science 377: 666-669, 2022.
D. Robinson, M. Ritso, G. Nelson, Z. Mokhtari, K. Nakka, H. Bandukwala, S. Goldman, P. Park, R. Mounier, B. Chazaud, M. Brand, M. Rudnicki, K. Adelman, F.J. Dilworth. Negative elongation factor regulates muscle progenitor expansion for efficient myofiber repair and stem cell pool repopulation. Dev Cell 56: 1014-1029, 2021.
M. Brand, K. Nakka, J. Zhu, and F.J. Dilworth. Polycomb/Trithorax Antagonism: Cellular Memory in Stem Cell Fate and Function. Cell Stem Cell 4: 518-533, 2019.
H. Faralli, C. Wang, A. Benyoucef, S.
Sebastian, L. Zhuang, A. Chu, C. Palii, C. Liu, B.
Camellato, M. Brand, K. Ge, and F.J. Dilworth. H3K27-demethylase activity of UTX/KDM6A is
essential for skeletal muscle regeneration. Journal of Clinical
Investigation 126: 1555-1565, 2016.
S. Sebastian, H. Faralli, Z. Yao, P.
Rakopoulos, C. Palii, Y. Cao, K. Singh, Q-C. Liu, A. Chu,
A. Aziz, M. Brand, S.J. Tapscott, and F.J. Dilworth. Tissue-specific splicing of a ubiquitously expressed
transcription factor is essential for muscle differentiation. Genes & Dev 27: 1247-1259, 2013.
S. Rampalli, L. Li, E. Mak, K. Ge, M.
Brand, S.J. Tapscott, and F.J. Dilworth. p38 MAPK signaling pathway regulates
recruitment of Ash2L-containing methyltransferase complexes to specific genes
during differentiation. Nature Struct Mol
Biol 14: 1150-1156, 2007.
