Melda Onal

Melda Onal, Ph.D., serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. Her research program investigates autophagy mechanisms in bone-forming cells and their critical role in skeletal homeostasis and age-related pathologies.

Education:

• B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Bilkent University, Turkey
• Ph.D. in Endocrinology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR, USA
• Postdoctoral Training, Biochemistry Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA

Research Focus: Dr. Onal's laboratory employs in vivo genetic models to dissect autophagy pathways in osteoblast lineage cells. Her seminal work demonstrates that autophagy deficiency in osteoblasts causes reduced bone mass, spontaneous fractures, and impaired osteocyte maturation due to organelle retention. Current investigations center on TFEB (a master autophagy regulator) as a therapeutic target for enhancing bone mass, utilizing CRISPR-based activation systems. Her research bridges cellular autophagy mechanisms with skeletal aging phenomena, particularly osteoporosis development.

Publication Trends: Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal three dominant research threads: 1) CRISPR-mediated manipulation of autophagy regulators (especially TFEB) to increase bone mass, 2) Development of novel genetic tools for cell-type-specific bone research, and 3) Characterization of cellular sources for bone regulatory molecules like RANKL. Her work increasingly integrates single-cell methodologies to resolve mesenchymal heterogeneity in bone compartments.

Collaborative Framework: Dr. Onal leads the Onal Lab within UAMS' Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases, maintaining active collaborations with the Pike Laboratory (bone biology) and Attie Laboratory (metabolism) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her team combines in vivo mouse genetics with ex vivo cellular assays to investigate autophagy-bone relationships, with Research Associate Nisreen Akel contributing to ongoing projects.