Randolph Ashton

About

Randolph Ashton is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the College of Engineering, where he conducts research in the Stem Cell Bioprocessing and Regenerative Biomaterials Laboratory. His work focuses on engineering novel materials and methodologies to instruct lineage-specific differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in a reproducible and scalable manner. His research aims to understand, model, and recapitulate in vitro the instructive signals used by human embryos to pattern tissue-specific differentiation, with applications toward the rational design of tissue engineer scaffolds and regenerative therapeutic strategies. His interdisciplinary research spans biomaterials, stem cell biology, and tissue engineering, employing techniques such as microfabrication, molecular biology, recombinant protein engineering, synthetic chemistry, and automated live-cell imaging. His current specialization involves developing regenerative therapies for the central nervous system, with ongoing efforts to expand into vascular and muscular tissues. Ashton holds a PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS from Hampton University. His contributions have been recognized through numerous awards, including the 2023 AIMBE Fellowship, the 2020 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Innovation Award, and the 2017 NSF CAREER Award, among others.

Research topics

• Biology
• Computer Science
• Computational biology
• Genetics
• Business
• Cell biology
• Neuroscience
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Medicine

Selected publications

• A 3D culture model of innervated human skeletal muscle enables studies of the adult neuromuscular junction

  eLife · 2019-05-13 · 271 citations

  articleOpen access

  Two-dimensional (2D) human skeletal muscle fiber cultures are ill-equipped to support the contractile properties of maturing muscle fibers. This limits their application to the study of adult human neuromuscular junction (NMJ) development, a process requiring maturation of muscle fibers in the presence of motor neuron endplates. Here we describe a three-dimensional (3D) co-culture method whereby human muscle progenitors mixed with human pluripotent stem cell-derived motor neurons self-organize t…

  PublisherDOI

• Non-synaptic function of the autism spectrum disorder-associated gene SYNGAP1 in cortical neurogenesis

  Nature Neuroscience · 2023-11-09 · 85 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• New ideas for non-animal approaches to predict repeated-dose systemic toxicity: Report from an EPAA Blue Sky Workshop

  Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology · 2020 · 41 citations

  The European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) convened a 'Blue Sky Workshop' on new ideas for non-animal approaches to predict repeated-dose systemic toxicity. The aim of the Workshop was to formulate strategic ideas to improve and increase the applicability, implementation and acceptance of modern non-animal methods to determine systemic toxicity. The Workshop concluded that good progress is being made to assess repeated dose toxicity without animals taking advant…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Micropatterned substrates with physiological stiffness promote cell maturation and Pompe disease phenotype in human induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived skeletal myocytes

  Biotechnology and Bioengineering · 2019-05-27 · 39 citations

  articleOpen access

  Recent advances in bioengineering have enabled cell culture systems that more closely mimic the native cellular environment. Here, we demonstrated that human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived myogenic progenitors formed highly-aligned myotubes and contracted when seeded on two-dimensional micropatterned platforms. The differentiated cells showed clear nuclear alignment and formed elongated myotubes dependent on the width of the micropatterned lanes. Topographical cues from micropatter…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bioengineering tissue morphogenesis and function in human neural organoids

  Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology · 2020 · 38 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Engineering Human CNS Morphogenesis Ex Vivo: Spinal Cord

  NSF · $553k · 2017–2022

• NIH Grant R21NS08261802

  NIH · $174k · 2017

• NIH Grant R21NS082618

  NIH · $174k · 2016

Frequent coauthors

• Gavin Knight

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  59 shared

• Nisha Iyer

  Tufts University

  45 shared

• Ethan S. Lippmann

  Vanderbilt Health

  26 shared

• Sha Jin

  California University of Pennsylvania

  20 shared

• Anne Bigot

  Centre de Recherche en Myologie

  16 shared

• Wendy C. Crone

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  15 shared

• Brett N. Napiwocki

  University of Minnesota System

  15 shared

• Jason D. McNulty

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  14 shared

Awards & honors

• American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (A…
• Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, 2020 Wisconsin Alumni…
• University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering, UW-M…
• National Science Foundation (NSF), National Science Foundati…
• Regenerative Medicine Workshop, 2016 Young Investigator Facu…

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