University of Wisconsin–Madison
Phil Newmark

Phil Newmark

Professor

pnewmark@wisc.edu

608-316-4105

Morgridge Institute for Research

Lab Page

Phil Newmark

Research

Developmental Biology, Genetics/Genomics, Molecular Biology

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Our current research is directed at understanding the mechanisms by which the planarian somatic stem cells develop and regenerate the germ cells (the cells that make gametes). We also examine the planarian’s parasitic cousins (e.g., schistosomes and tapeworms) from a developmental perspective. The lab’s functional genomic and developmental studies have revealed the role of stem cells in driving the life cycles of parasitic flatworms and maintaining their tissues throughout their long lives. As we learn more about how these parasites infect their hosts and reproduce inside them, we hope to devise new strategies for controlling these devastating parasites that infect hundreds of millions of people in the developing world.

A microscopy image of a snail with various depths of tissues fluoresced in different colors.
Schistosome-infected snail labeled with a fluorescent lectin. Different colors correspond to different depths in the tissue. Image by Bo Wang.
A microscopy image of a flatworm's cells during development, most are blue but some are red to denote cells that are dividing.
Spermatogenesis in a planarian: confocal projection through a testis lobe showing nuclei (gray-to-white) at different stages of development and dividing cells (red). Image by Tracy Chong.

Education

PhD, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1994

BA, Biology, Boston University, 1987