Aron Geurts Lab

Aron Geurts, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor, Department of Physiology
ageurts@mcw.edu
Dr. Geurts is a professor of physiology and leads an NIH-funded research team focused on innovating novel approaches to genetic engineering and creating animal and cell models of complex genetic human diseases. He is a recipient of a prestigious New Innovator award from the Office of the Director of the NIH.

Michael Grzybowski
Laboratory Supervisor
mgrzybowski@mcw.edu
My role in Dr. Aron Geurts' lab is to help facilitate the creation of genetically modified models. I design nuclease reagents that are then created and validated in the Geurts lab that will be used to create these modifications. I am also responsible for the day to day operations in the lab. My research interests are mainly molecular biology and technology and how to create and develop animal models.

Akiko Takizawa
Research Scientist II
atakizawa@mcw.edu
My research interests are related to reproductive biology in rats. I am especially interested in assisted reproductive technology such as cryopreservation of gametes and zygotes, re-derivation and embryo manipulation. These technologies are reliable methods to preserve strains which were generated using new gene modification technologies such as Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and TAL Effector Nucleases (TALENs), to avoid breeding problems. I am also interested in the development of more effective sperm cryopreservation and nuclear transfer technology.

Jason Klotz
Research Technologist III
jklotz@mcw.edu
Under Dr. Geurts I help coordinate the business conducted in the Rat Transgenic Service Center. I also perform micro-injections and sperm cryopreservation for the Service Center.
Recent Publications
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(Murray JD, Ray A, Kasomva K, Steen E, Stelloh C, Pulakanti K, Doerfler PA, De Sarkar N, Qiu Q, Liu Y, Geurts AM, Cowley AW Jr, Meyer AE, Liang M, Rao S.) Cell Rep Methods. 2026 Aug 17;6(8):101499 PMID: 42285100 PMCID: PMC13494542 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105042289508 06/13/2026
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A cross-organ single-cell analysis of hypertension.
(Qiu Q, Liu Y, Xue H, Pandey R, Liu J, He L, Liu P, Therani B, Kumar V, Huang J, Sadri S, Guenther M, Usa K, Grzybowski M, Vanden Avond MA, Greene AS, Cowley AW Jr, Rao S, Geurts AM, Liang M.) Science. 2026 Aug 13;393(6812):eaea6187 PMID: 42594205 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105047317364 08/13/2026
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Monitoring biological effects of somatic cell genome editing.
(Freedman BS, Bulte JWM, Conklin BR, Judge LM, Dwinell MR, Geurts AM, Sitton MJ, Mahajan V, Kiani S, Gersbach CA, Ebrahimkhani MR, Kelly JJ, Ronald JA, Morizane R, Gupta N, Shakeri-Zadeh A, Vo N, Saha K, Saxena S, Gamm DM, Sinha D, Tarantal AF, Vandsburger M, Matsubara A, Fu H, Tsai SQ, SCGE Dissemination and Coordinating Center Toolkit Team, SCGE Biological Effects Initiative.) Nat Rev Genet. 2026 Apr;27(4):323-342 PMID: 41530266 PMCID: PMC13101755 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105027880322 01/14/2026
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(Arnold AP, Chen X, Grzybowski MN, Ryan JM, Sengelaub DR, Mohanroy T, Furlan VA, Schmidtke HR, Prokop JW, Tutaj M, Ciosek JL, Kalbfleisch TS, O'Donnell L, Grisham W, Landen S, Malloy L, Takizawa A, Li K, Barseghyan H, Wiese CB, Vergnes L, Reue K, Wanagat J, Skaletsky H, Page DC, Harley VR, Dwinell MR, Geurts AM.) Biol Sex Differ. 2026 Feb 21;17(1) PMID: 41723549 PMCID: PMC13067745 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105035498694 02/22/2026
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(Kravtsova O, Tan Y, Levchenko V, Kovalenko E, Tiwari R, Zietara A, Bohovyk R, Dissanayake LV, Van TT, Sharp TE 3rd, Geurts AM, Palygin O, Rinschen MM, Staruschenko A.) iScience. 2026 Jan 16;29(1):114505 PMID: 41550752 PMCID: PMC12808911 01/19/2026
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(Fitzpatrick MK, Seshie O, Scott C, Vora A, Seramur ME, Beeson A, Adrian L, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Geurts AM, Key CC, Woods LCS.) Res Sq. 2026 Jan 09 PMID: 41542040 PMCID: PMC12803338 01/16/2026
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(Martínez-Beamonte R, Guillén N, Sánchez-Marco J, Herrera-Marcos LV, Surra JC, Navarro MA, Barranquero C, Arnal C, Puente JJ, Rodríguez-Yoldi MJ, Mendiara I, Domeño C, Nerín C, Geurts AM, Osada J, Laclaustra M.) Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Dec 12;26(24) PMID: 41465421 PMCID: PMC12732954 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105025961107 12/30/2025
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(Yang C, Dave DD, Boovarahan SR, Shimada S, Geurts A, Dash RK, Cowley AW Jr.) Function (Oxf). 2025 Oct 28;6(6) PMID: 41055389 PMCID: PMC12560232 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105020316608 10/07/2025
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The role of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 2 in the progression of salt-sensitive hypertension.
(Dissanayake LV, Smith BA, Zietara A, Levchenko V, Lowe M, Kravtsova O, Shapiro A, Upadhyay G, Halade GV, Geurts AM, Palygin O, Staruschenko A.) Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2025 Oct 01;329(4):C1188-C1202 PMID: 40897451 PMCID: PMC12462776 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105017327500 09/03/2025
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(Takizawa A, Foeckler J, Knapp E, Grzybowski M, Geurts AM, Carroll J, Merriman DK.) Mol Reprod Dev. 2025 Sep;92(9):e70055 PMID: 40891659 PMCID: PMC12826629 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105014800254 09/02/2025
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Aberrant recursive splicing in a human disease locus.
(Boone PM, Harripaul R, Yadav R, Grzybowski M, Hanafy MK, Lee AC, Choi EY, Collins RL, Polesskaya O, Makhortova N, Larson MO, Kayir H, Wang Y, Avila RA, Frie JA, Eed A, Albeely AM, Venmuri S, Ayoub SM, Lemanski JM, Ben-Isvy D, Zhao X, Sanchis-Juan A, Handley M, Erdin S, de Esch C, Mohajeri K, Chen C, Tovar PG, Salani M, Oliveira MM, Tai DJC, Currall B, McGraw C, Slaughenhaupt S, Doan R, Gao D, Gusella JF, Sanchez-Roige S, Young J, Khokar J, Geurts AM, Palmer AA, Talkowski ME.) bioRxiv. 2025 Aug 15 PMID: 40919386 PMCID: PMC12413155 09/08/2025
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(Martínez-Beamonte R, Guillén N, Sánchez-Marco J, Herrera-Marcos LV, Surra JC, Navarro MA, Barranquero C, Arnal C, Puente JJ, Rodríguez-Yoldi MJ, Mendiara I, Domeño C, Nerín C, Geurts AM, Osada J, Laclaustra M.) International Journal of Molecular Sciences. December 2025;26(24) SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105025961107 12/01/2025