
Rolf Bodmer's Research Focus
The Bodmer Laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms of organ formation, how patterns are generated and how cells and tissue types assume their correct fates and functions. The Bodmer lab is pursuing this interest by studying the genetic functions and interactions that specify heart development and maintain heart performance in the Drosophila model, in the hope of elucidating basic principles in organogenesis and functionality.
Mesoderm
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Cardiac Mesoderm
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Cardiac Cell Types
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Morphogenesis
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Heart Function
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Aging Heart
We study the HIF and Notch pathways in various organismal responses to hypoxia. Both of these pathways as well as mechanisms and responses to hypoxia are of high relevance to cancer research.
We are also studying master regulatory networks in how they control metabolism and obesity. These fundamental studies on obesity pathways will also be highly relevant to cancer metabolism.
Rolf Bodmer's Bio
Rolf Bodmer earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Neurobiology from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1983. Dr. Bodmer trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Neurobiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and also studied Molecular Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Biology in 1990 at the University of Michigan. There, he was promoted to Associate Professor of Biology in 1996, and then appointed to Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology in 2001. Dr. Bodmer joined SBP in 2003, where he is Professor and Program Director of the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program.
Other Appointments
Adjunct professor, University of California, San Diego
Funding Awards and Collaborative Grants
1 P01 AG033561 "Genetic Analysis of Drosophila Functional Aging"
Honors and Recognition
Ellison Foundation Senior Scholar Award

Publications
Tinman/Nkx2-5 acts via miR-1 and upstream of Cdc42 to regulate heart function across species.
Qian L, Wythe JD, Liu J, Cartry J, Vogler G, Mohapatra B, Otway RT, Huang Y, King IN, Maillet M, Zheng Y, Crawley T, Taghli-Lamallem O, Semsarian C, Dunwoodie S, Winlaw D, Harvey RP, Fatkin D, Towbin JA, Molkentin JD, Srivastava D, Ocorr K, Bruneau BG, Bodmer R
J Cell Biol 2011 Jun 27 ;193(7):1181-96
High-fat-diet-induced obesity and heart dysfunction are regulated by the TOR pathway in Drosophila.
Birse RT, Choi J, Reardon K, Rodriguez J, Graham S, Diop S, Ocorr K, Bodmer R, Oldham S
Cell Metab 2010 Nov 3 ;12(5):533-44
A global in vivo Drosophila RNAi screen identifies NOT3 as a conserved regulator of heart function.
Neely GG, Kuba K, Cammarato A, Isobe K, Amann S, Zhang L, Murata M, Elmén L, Gupta V, Arora S, Sarangi R, Dan D, Fujisawa S, Usami T, Xia CP, Keene AC, Alayari NN, Yamakawa H, Elling U, Berger C, Novatchkova M, Koglgruber R, Fukuda K, Nishina H, Isobe M, Pospisilik JA, Imai Y, Pfeufer A, Hicks AA, Pramstaller PP, Subramaniam S, Kimura A, Ocorr K, Bodmer R, Penninger JM
Cell 2010 Apr 2 ;141(1):142-53
Atrial Fibrillation Genomics: Discovery and Translation.
Yoo DH, Bodmer R, Ocorr K, Larson CJ, Colas AR, Muse ED
Curr Cardiol Rep 2021 Oct 1 ;23(11):164
Fat-body brummer lipase determines survival and cardiac function during starvation in Drosophila melanogaster.
Blumrich A, Vogler G, Dresen S, Diop SB, Jaeger C, Leberer S, Grune J, Wirth EK, Hoeft B, Renko K, Foryst-Ludwig A, Spranger J, Sigrist S, Bodmer R, Kintscher U
iScience 2021 Apr 23 ;24(4):102288
Conserved Role of the Large Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel, KCa1.1, in Sinus Node Function and Arrhythmia Risk.
Pineda S, Nikolova-Krstevski V, Leimena C, Atkinson AJ, Altekoester AK, Cox CD, Jacoby A, Huttner IG, Ju YK, Soka M, Ohanian M, Trivedi G, Kalvakuri S, Birker K, Johnson R, Molenaar P, Kuchar D, Allen DG, van Helden DF, Harvey RP, Hill AP, Bodmer R, Vogler G, Dobrzynski H, Ocorr K, Fatkin D
Circ Genom Precis Med 2021 Apr ;14(2):e003144
Prolonged Exposure to Microgravity Reduces Cardiac Contractility and Initiates Remodeling in Drosophila.
Walls S, Diop S, Birse R, Elmen L, Gan Z, Kalvakuri S, Pineda S, Reddy C, Taylor E, Trinh B, Vogler G, Zarndt R, McCulloch A, Lee P, Bhattacharya S, Bodmer R, Ocorr K
Cell Rep 2020 Dec 8 ;33(10):108445
Identification of MYOM2 as a candidate gene in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Tetralogy of Fallot, and its functional evaluation in the Drosophila heart.
Auxerre-Plantié E, Nielsen T, Grunert M, Olejniczak O, Perrot A, Özcelik C, Harries D, Matinmehr F, Dos Remedios C, Mühlfeld C, Kraft T, Bodmer R, Vogler G, Sperling SR
Dis Model Mech 2020 Dec 18 ;13(12)
Patient-specific genomics and cross-species functional analysis implicate LRP2 in hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Theis JL, Vogler G, Missinato MA, Li X, Nielsen T, Zeng XI, Martinez-Fernandez A, Walls SM, Kervadec A, Kezos JN, Birker K, Evans JM, O'Byrne MM, Fogarty ZC, Terzic A, Grossfeld P, Ocorr K, Nelson TJ, Olson TM, Colas AR, Bodmer R
Elife 2020 Oct 2 ;9