Ruhee Dere

Ruhee Dere, Ph.D., serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, where she leads research at the Center for Precision Environmental Health. Her work bridges molecular cell biology and translational oncology with focus on ciliary dynamics in disease pathogenesis.

Her academic foundation includes:

• Ph.D. in Genetics from Texas A&M University (2006)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship at U.T. MD Anderson Cancer Center (2011)
• M.S. in Life Sciences from Mumbai University (2000)
• B.S. in Life Sciences from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India (1998)

Dr. Dere's research program centers on elucidating molecular mechanisms of primary cilia formation/disassembly, with direct implications for ciliopathies and renal cystogenesis. Her seminal work established that VHL tumor suppressor loss triggers ciliary defects via Aurora kinase A (AURKA) activation, identifying AURKA as a direct VHL E3 ligase target. She demonstrated that AURKA-HDAC6 axis inhibition rescues ciliary defects in vitro and in vivo using novel cystogenesis models. Recent breakthroughs reveal nuclear histone modifiers repurposed in cytoplasmic compartments to regulate microtubule dynamics, uncovering unprecedented epigenome-cytoskeleton crosstalk.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2018-2024) reveals three dominant research thrusts: (1) epigenetic-cytoskeletal integration via SETD2/PBRM1-mediated microtubule methylation, (2) genomic instability mechanisms in renal carcinogenesis through centrosome/chromatin defects, and (3) therapeutic targeting of VHL-AURKA pathways to rescue ciliary dysfunction. Over 70% of recent work focuses on SETD2's dual roles in chromatin and cytoskeletal regulation.

While specific awards are not detailed in source materials, Dr. Dere's contributions to cilia biology and renal cancer mechanisms are evidenced by consistent high-impact publications.

Her laboratory has developed high-throughput image-based ciliation assays for compound screening and maintains animal models of cystogenesis. Current work explores nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling of epigenetic regulators and their therapeutic potential in ciliopathies.