About

Edwin L. Ferguson, PhD, is a Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on questions of pattern formation and cell fate specification in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, with particular interest in the mechanisms underlying the patterning of the embryonic dorsal-ventral (D/V) axis and the asymmetric self-renewal divisions of adult stem cells. His laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding the role of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) family member Decapentaplegic (Dpp) in D/V patterning, discovering the conservation of dorsal-ventral patterning mechanisms across arthropods and chordates, and elucidating the genetic networks that confer robustness to these patterning systems. Ferguson's work has also explored the processes responsible for maintaining germ line stem cells in the adult ovary, identifying mechanisms that create intrinsic polarity in germline stem cells and their interactions with niche cells, which influence stem cell maintenance and aging.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Medicine
• Medical education
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Social Science
• Social psychology
• Public relations
• Pedagogy

Selected publications

• Virtually the Same? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Remote Undergraduate Research Experiences

  CBE—Life Sciences Education · 2023 · 14 citations

  • Medical education
  • Psychology
  • Pedagogy

  In-person undergraduate research experiences (UREs) promote students' integration into careers in life science research. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted institutions hosting summer URE programs to offer them remotely, raising questions about whether undergraduates who participate in remote research can experience scientific integration and whether they might perceive doing research less favorably (i.e., not beneficial or too costly). To address these questions, we examined indicators of scientific integration and perceptions of the benefits and costs of doing research among students who participated in remote life science URE programs in Summer 2020. We found that students experienced gains in scientific self-efficacy pre- to post-URE, similar to results reported for in-person UREs. We also found that students experienced gains in scientific identity, graduate and career intentions, and perceptions of the benefits of doing research only if they started their remote UREs at lower levels on these variables. Collectively, students did not change in their perceptions of the costs of doing research despite the challenges of working remotely. Yet students who started with low cost perceptions increased in these perceptions. These findings indicate that remote UREs can support students' self-efficacy development, but may otherwise be limited in their potential to promote scientific integration.

  PublisherDOI

• “How Do We Do This at a Distance?!” A Descriptive Study of Remote Undergraduate Research Programs during COVID-19

  CBE—Life Sciences Education · 2022 · 35 citations

  • Political Science
  • Medical education
  • Psychology

  The COVID-19 pandemic shut down undergraduate research programs across the United States. A group of 23 colleges, universities, and research institutes hosted remote undergraduate research programs in the life sciences during Summer 2020. Given the unprecedented offering of remote programs, we carried out a study to describe and evaluate them. Using structured templates, we documented how programs were designed and implemented, including who participated. Through focus groups and surveys, we identified programmatic strengths and shortcomings as well as recommendations for improvements from students' perspectives. Strengths included the quality of mentorship, opportunities for learning and professional development, and a feeling of connection with a larger community. Weaknesses included limited cohort building, challenges with insufficient structure, and issues with technology. Although all programs had one or more activities related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, these topics were largely absent from student reports even though programs coincided with a peak in national consciousness about racial inequities and structural racism. Our results provide evidence for designing remote Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) that are experienced favorably by students. Our results also indicate that remote REUs are sufficiently positive to further investigate their affordances and constraints, including the potential to scale up offerings, with minimal concern about disenfranchising students.

  PublisherDOI

• Virtually the same? Evaluating the effectiveness of remote undergraduate research experiences

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2022-01-05 · 2 citations

  preprintOpen access

  ABSTRACT In-person undergraduate research experiences (UREs) promote students’ integration into careers in life science research. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted institutions hosting summer URE programs to offer them remotely, raising questions about whether undergraduates who participate in remote research can experience scientific integration. To address this, we investigated indicators of scientific integration for students who participated in remote life science URE programs in summer 2020. We found that these students experienced gains in their scientific self-efficacy and scientific identity similar to results reported for in-person UREs. We also found that these students perceived high benefits and low costs of doing research at the outset of their programs, and their perceptions did not change despite the remote circumstances. Yet, their perceptions differed by program, indicating that programs differentially affected students’ perceptions of the costs of doing research. Finally, we observed that students with prior research experience made greater gains in self-efficacy and identity, as well as in their perceptions of the alignment of their values with those of the scientific community, in comparison to students with no prior research experience. This finding suggests that additional programming may be needed for undergraduates with no prior experience to benefit from remote research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• “How do we do this at a distance?!” A descriptive study of remote undergraduate research programs during COVID-19

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2021 · 3 citations

  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Medical education

  ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic shut down undergraduate research programs across the U.S. Twenty-three sites offered remote undergraduate research programs in the life sciences during summer 2020. Given the unprecedented offering of remote research experiences, we carried out a study to describe and evaluate these programs. Using structured templates, we documented how programs were designed and implemented, including who participated. Through focus groups and surveys, we identified programmatic strengths and shortcomings as well as recommendations for improvements from the perspectives of participating students. Strengths included the quality of mentorship, opportunities for learning and professional development, and development of a sense of community. Weaknesses included limited cohort building, challenges with insufficient structure, and issues with technology. Although all programs had one or more activities related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, these topics were largely absent from student reports even though programs coincided with a peak in national consciousness about racial inequities and structural racism. Our results provide evidence for designing remote REUs that are experienced favorably by students. Our results also indicate that remote REUs are sufficiently positive to further investigate their affordances and constraints, including the potential to scale up offerings, with minimal concern about disenfranchising students.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Functional evolution of a morphogenetic gradient

  eLife · 2016-12-22 · 26 citations

  articleOpen access

  Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) pattern the dorsal-ventral axis of bilaterian embryos; however, their roles in the evolution of body plan are largely unknown. We examined their functional evolution in fly embryos. BMP signaling specifies two extraembryonic tissues, the serosa and amnion, in basal-branching flies such as Megaselia abdita, but only one, the amnioserosa, in Drosophila melanogaster. The BMP signaling dynamics are similar in both species until the beginning of gastrulation, when BMP signaling broadens and intensifies at the edge of the germ rudiment in Megaselia, while remaining static in Drosophila. Here we show that the differences in gradient dynamics and tissue specification result from evolutionary changes in the gene regulatory network that controls the activity of a positive feedback circuit on BMP signaling, involving the tumor necrosis factor alpha homolog eiger. These data illustrate an evolutionary mechanism by which spatiotemporal changes in morphogen gradients can guide tissue complexity.

  PublisherDOI

• Author response: Functional evolution of a morphogenetic gradient

  2016-12-07 · 1 citations

  peer-reviewOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• P2‐404: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RENIN ANGIOTENSIN SYSTEM AND ALZHEIMER'S BIOMARKERS: RESULTS FROM THE EMBARK STUDY

  Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2014-07-01

  article

  With the projected increase in Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevalence over the coming decades, there is an increased urgency to find ways of preventing or delaying disease onset. The apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE E4) genotype and a parental history of AD increase the risk for developing AD, yet neither are determining factors, suggesting that they interact with other variables, likely health-related. Mounting evidence, in fact, suggests that there may be a link between blood pressure (BP) and AD pathology, possibly through the accumulation of beta amyloid (Aβ). However, the mechanism has yet to be clarified. The renin angiotensin system (RAS regulates BP in the body and in the brain, and research suggests that RAS regulation may decrease the risk for AD, possibly via Aβ neuropathology. The objective of this prospective, cross sectional study was to examine the association between RAS function in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and 1) CSF Aβ levels, 2) ambulatory BP patterns, and 3) cognitive functioning. Participants included middle-aged individuals enrolled in the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), who were at increased risk for AD based on a diagnosed parental history and overrepresentation of APOE ε4. All participants underwent CSF collection, extensive cognitive testing, ApoE genotyping and ambulatory (24 hour) BP monitoring. CSF was assessed for ACE activity and levels and AD biomarkers. Participants (N=42) were mostly female (83%), middle aged, (M=59 yrs) and well educated (M=15.5 yrs). Forty two percent were ApoE4 positive and all were Caucasian. Average daytime BP was 125/76 mmHg (range 150/87 mmHg - 105/59 mmHg) and average nighttime systolic dip was 9.1% (range -2.7% - 18.7%). Participants were cognitively normal (MMSE average = 29.5). Here we present the complex relationship between RAS function and central and peripheral AD biomarkers, which may differ between ApoE E4 positive and negative individuals. RAS function may influence AD biomarkers, beyond the influence exerted via peripheral vascular maintenance. Identifying the mechanistic link by which modifiable risk factors, such as hypertension, contribute to Aβ toxicity is important in developing preventive strategies for AD. RAS dysfunction may pose a significant additional risk for cognitive decline and AD, compounded by genetics and family history.

  PublisherDOI

• <i>zen</i>and the art of phenotypic maintenance: Canalization of embryonic dorsal-ventral patterning in<i>Drosophila</i>

  Fly · 2014-07-03 · 5 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  We recently uncovered a novel genetic mechanism that generates the phenotypic uniformity, or canalization, of BMP signaling and cell fate specification during patterning of the dorsal-ventral (D/V) axis in D. melanogaster embryos. We went on to show that other wild-type Drosophila species lack this canalizing genetic circuitry and, consequently, have non-robust D/V patterning. In this review, we propose molecular mechanisms that may give rise to stereotyped BMP signaling, and we identify an additional species that could have decanalized D/V patterning. Extension of these analyses could in turn help explain why canalization is not a universal necessity for species survival.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Genetic Network Conferring Canalization to a Bistable Patterning System in Drosophila

  Current Biology · 2013-10-31 · 64 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Niche-Associated Activation of Rac Promotes the Asymmetric Division of Drosophila Female Germline Stem Cells

  PLoS Biology · 2012-07-03 · 53 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Drosophila female germline stem cells (GSCs) reside adjacent to a cellular niche that secretes Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) ligands and anchors the GSCs through adherens junctions. The GSCs divide asymmetrically such that one daughter remains in the niche as a GSC, while the other is born away from the niche and differentiates. However, given that the BMP signal can be diffusible, it remains unclear how a local extracellular asymmetry is sufficient to result in a robust pattern of asymmetric division. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Here we show that GSCs are polarized with respect to the cellular niche. We first use a modified biosensor to demonstrate that the small GTPase Rac is asymmetrically activated within the GSC at the niche-GSC interface. Experiments using loss-of-function and gain-of-function mutations in Rac indicate that asymmetric Rac activity both localizes the microtubule binding protein Apc2 to orient one GSC centrosome at the niche-GSC interface during interphase and activates the Jun N-terminal kinase pathway to increase the ability of the GSC to respond to BMP ligands. Other processes act in concert with each function of Rac. Specifically, we demonstrate that the GSC cell cycle arrests at prometaphase if centrosomes are misoriented. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the GSCs, an adult stem cell present in a cellular niche, have a niche-associated polarity that couples control of the division plane with increased response to an extracellular maintenance signal. Other processes work in parallel with the Rac-mediated polarity to ensure a robust pattern of asymmetric division. We suggest that all adult stem cells likely employ multiple, independently acting mechanisms to ensure asymmetric division to maintain tissue homeostasis.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01GM078481

  NIH · $1.2M · 2011

• NIH Grant R01GM050838

  NIH · $3.7M · 2009

Frequent coauthors

• Kevin R. Burgio

  Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

  8 shared

• Elizabeth Padilla-Crespo

  University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla

  8 shared

• Rosemary J. Smith

  Idaho State University

  7 shared

• H. Robert Horvitz

  McGovern Institute for Brain Research

  5 shared

• Alexander Hoffmann

  5 shared

• Camille Mathis

  American Psychiatric Association

  4 shared

• Robert M. Kao

  4 shared

• Olivia A. Erickson

  University of Georgia

  4 shared

Labs

• Edwin L. Ferguson LabPI

Education

• B.S., Biology

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1976

• B.S., Electrical Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1976

• Ph.D., Genetics

  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

  1985

• Other, Genetics

  University of California, Berkeley

  1992

Awards & honors

• Biological Sciences Division Distinguished Educator and Ment…
• Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Ex…
• Senior Scholar Award in Aging, Ellison Medical Foundation 20…
• Cancer Research Foundation Fletcher Scholar 2000 - 2001
• Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences 1993 - 1997