Rachel Smith-Bolton

Rachel Smith-Bolton is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Cell & Developmental Biology Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, within the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology. Her research focuses on understanding tissue regeneration mechanisms in Drosophila melanogaster, particularly using wing imaginal discs as a model system. She explores how tissues sense damage, initiate regenerative growth, and maintain proper patterning during repair.

Education

• B.A., Harvard University
• Ph.D., Stanford University
• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests

Her lab investigates developmental and regenerative biology, with emphasis on chromatin architecture, signal transduction, and the interplay between regeneration and developmental pathways. Current projects include analyzing how chromatin modifiers regulate gene expression during regeneration and identifying regeneration-specific genes through genetic screens.

Recent Contributions

Recent work highlights discoveries such as Zelda’s role in exiting regeneration (Science Advances, 2025) and Myc/Tor’s role in blastema growth (2025 preprint). She co-authored foundational papers on SWI/SNF chromatin complexes (Genetics, 2021) and regeneration constraints (PLOS Genetics, 2023).

Awards & Recognition

• 2018-2019 I. C. Gunsalus Scholar
• Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust Young Investigator Award
• Arnold O. Beckman Research Award

Lab & Mentorship

Current lab members include graduate students Anish Bose, Felicity Hsu, and Snigdha Mathure. Recent successes include Anish Bose’s 2025 Science Advances publication and undergraduate awards to Sai Kodali and Jamie Gonzalez. The lab actively uses cutting-edge imaging technologies, including a newly acquired Zeiss LSM 900 confocal microscope funded by the Roy J. Carver Foundation.