Colin Conine, PhD
Assistant Professor, Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania
Former RTI Lab: Doctoral candidate, Mello Lab
Training Period: 2007 - 2014
Prior Academic Institution: Universidade de Lisboa
Awards: Harold M. Weintraub Award, 2014
Dr. Colin Conine’s research focuses on the functions of small RNAs in reproduction, inheritance, and development. He completed his PhD in the laboratory of Craig Mello at UMass Chan where he worked on the function of endogenous small RNA pathways regulating thermotolerant male fertility in C. elegans. Dr. Conine went on to complete his postdoctoral training in Oliver Rando’s lab, where he was a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow.
During this time, he demonstrated that sperm transmitted small RNAs in mice are able to regulate embryonic gene expression and development in offspring. In the process, he found that small RNAs are shipped from the epididymis to maturing sperm via exosomes, establishing a novel soma-to-germline transfer of epigenetic information in mammals.
In January 2020, Colin joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Department of Genetics) and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Division of Neonatology). His lab utilizes a combination of assisted-reproduction techniques paired with injection of RNAs or genetic ablation of small RNAs in the male germline, followed by single embryo genome-wide molecular techniques to determine the effect of sperm small RNAs on embryonic development and offspring phenotype.