Marlies P. Rossmann, M.D., Ph.D.

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Administrative: (585) 273-1440

Office: (585) 274-1586

Fax: (585) 273-1450

Research Labs

Visit Lab Website

Locations

University of Rochester Medical Center
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 633
Rochester, NY 14642

Additional Links

Faculty Appointments

Assistant Professor - Department of Biomedical Genetics (SMD)

Biography

Marlies was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. As a medical student at the Free University and Humboldt University of Berlin, she performed her M.D. thesis work with Prof. Detlev Ganten at the Max Delbru?ck Center for Molecular Medicine and Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics. After her medical residency in Neurology and Internal Medicine, Marlies joined the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she completed her Ph.D. thesis in the group of Dr. Bruce Stillman at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory with the discovery of a novel mechanism linking epigenetic silencing and nucleotide metabolism. Motivated by her interest in transcription and chromatin, and the power of unbiased screens, Marlies then joined Dr. Leonard Zon's lab as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology of Harvard University. There, through a chemical suppressor screen in zebrafish and subsequent genetic, genomic and metabolomic analysis also involving human cell models, she elucidated that a transcriptional program drives erythroid lineage differentiation by instructing critical metabolic activities. Marlies joined the University of Rochester as Assistant Professor of Biomedical Genetics in January 2023. Her lab focuses on the instructive role of metabolism during cell fate decisions in hematopoietic lineage differentiation.

Research

Lineage differentiation depends on gene expression programs that regulate changes in cell fate, including metabolic changes. However, we poorly understand if, when and how metabolism actively promotes lineage specification and differentiation and how gene expression, in turn, adapts to the metabolic state. The Rossmann lab studies hematopoiesis as a paradigm to elucidate the crosstalk between transcription, specific metabolic activities, and the epigenetic landscape during cell fate decisions. We use zebrafish as a powerful genetically tractable vertebrate model that amenable to screening and in-vivo imaging, but also integrate it with mouse and human stem cell differentiation models. We strive to leverage key insights from these studies to elucidate the metabolic origins of a variety of diseases, facilitate novel metabolism-centered differentiation therapies for hematological malignancies, and combat the decline in lymphoid cell production by the aging hematopoietic system.

Credentials

Education

1999
MD | Free University and Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

2010
PhD | State University of New York at Stony Brook

2022
Post-doctoral training | | Harvard University
Molecular Hematopoiesis

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

2011 - 2022
Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Awards

2022
Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, for Metabolomics Course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

2021 - 2022
Intersections Science Fellow, Yale School of Medicine, CT

2020
The Eugene Cronkite New Investigator Award, 1st Place Postdoctoral Fellow
Sponsor: International Society for Experimental Hematology

2019
Abstract Achievement Award, 61st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting

2019
Trainee Leadership Award, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University

2017
Postdoctoral Award for Professional Development, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University

2016
Best Poster Award, 20th Hemoglobin Switching Conference, Pacific Grove

2015
Merit Award, Red Cells Gordon Research Seminar

2009
Scholarship for Eukaryotic Gene Expression Course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

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Publications

Journal Articles

8/10/2021
García-Castillo J, Alcaraz-Pérez F, Martínez-Balsalobre E, García-Moreno D, Rossmann MP, Fernández-Lajarín M, Bernabé-García M, Pérez-Oliva AB, Rodríguez-Cortez VC, Bueno C, Adatto I, Agarwal S, Menéndez P, Zon LI, Mulero V, Cayuela ML. "Telomerase RNA recruits RNA polymerase II to target gene promoters to enhance myelopoiesis." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2021 Aug 10; 118(32)

6/1/2021
Rossmann MP, Dubois SM, Agarwal S, Zon LI. "Mitochondrial function in development and disease." Disease models & mechanisms.. 2021 Jun 1; 14(6)Epub 2021 Jun 11.

5/14/2021
Rossmann MP, Hoi K, Chan V, Abraham BJ, Yang S, Mullahoo J, Papanastasiou M, Wang Y, Elia I, Perlin JR, Hagedorn EJ, Hetzel S, Weigert R, Vyas S, Nag PP, Sullivan LB, Warren CR, Dorjsuren B, Greig EC, Adatto I, Cowan CA, Schreiber SL, Young RA, Meissner A, Haigis MC, Hekimi S, Carr SA, Zon LI. "Cell-specific transcriptional control of mitochondrial metabolism by TIF1? drives erythropoiesis." Science.. 2021 May 14; 372(6543):716-721.

Books & Chapters

2022
Chapter Title: Hematopoietic stem cell biology
Book Title: Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice
Author List: Rossmann, M.P., Chute, J.H.
Edited By: Hoffman, R. et al.
Published By: Elsevier 2022

2018
Chapter Title: Hematopoietic stem cell biology
Book Title: Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice
Author List: Rossmann, M.P., Orkin, S.H., Chute, J.H.
Edited By: Hoffman, R. et al.
Published By: Elsevier 2018

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