Caroline Dealy, PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Research Overview

I am an Associate Professor at UConn Health with appointments in four Departments: Reconstructive Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Orthopaedic Surgery and Cell Biology. I am a UConn alum (doctorate in Molecular & Cell Biology); I have established and grown my research program at UConn Health over the past 25 years.
(1) My general research interests are development, stem cells, regenerative medicine, ageing, and EGFR axis signaling. (2) My InCHIP project is a serendipitous discovery that revealed unexpected roles for a little-known member of the EGF receptor family in ovarian function. This discovery challenges decades of research that has attributed functional roles for EGFR signaling in the ovary to the EGFR itself, and offers an explanation for the poor performance of diagnostic tests for ovarian cancer that rely on detection of EGFR signaling. Our findings also identify a new targetable pathway that offers potential future development of agents to modulate female fertility, such as a non-hormonal contraceptive for women; a pro-fertility drug for use in the IVF clinic; or a way to delay menopause onset. (3) My other ongoing projects are exploring mechanisms of inflammation and aging of the knee joint in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. I am also leading translational projects in stem cell-based therapies for knee cartilage repair. (4) I appreciate the need to translate research discovery to societal benefit and recognize that in the life sciences, this typically requires commercialization and investment to cover costs of development and clinical trials. For this reason, I am active in promoting innovation and research commercialization across UConn and the State. I am an inventor with 5 patents and two former biotech startups. I have developed programs that have engaged over 300 college students from across Connecticut in bioscience research and entrepreneurship training. I have developed and teach graduate and undergraduate courses on biomedical entrepreneurship, and serve as liaison for the NSF-funded Accelerate UConn innovation and entrepreneurship training program for UConn faculty.

Education

PhD UConn 1989

Recent/Selected Publications

Research Gate