Audrey P. Gasch

Audrey P. Gasch is a Professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she also directs the Center for Genomic Science Innovation (CGSI). Her research focuses on understanding how eukaryotic cells sense and respond to environmental stresses, with a particular emphasis on yeast as a model system. She integrates genomics, systems biology, and computational approaches to study stress signaling, natural variation, and genotype-phenotype relationships.

Research Interests: Dr. Gasch’s lab investigates stress-activated signaling networks, heterogeneity in cellular responses, and the evolution of stress defense systems. Her work bridges fundamental biology with applications in bioenergy and human health. Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, her team explores how genetic variation influences stress tolerance and how these insights can inform predictions of phenotypic outcomes from genomic data.

The lab’s recent publications reflect a strong trend in functional and comparative genomics, phosphoproteomics, gene regulatory networks, and metabolic engineering. Themes include aneuploidy tolerance, RNA-protein granule dynamics, CRISPR tool development, and engineered xylose fermentation—highlighting both basic mechanisms and translational potential.

• Director, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, UW-Madison
• Member, NHGRI IGVF Consortium
• Active participant in scientific outreach, including Family Science Nights

Dr. Gasch mentors a diverse group of graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates. Her former trainees have gone on to careers in academia, biotechnology, clinical genomics, and data science. She collaborates widely across campus, particularly with groups in proteomics, bioinformatics, and bioenergy research, and her lab benefits from strong institutional support and grant funding, including involvement in major federally funded consortia.