Image
Kristin Knouse stands in the lab.
Kristin Knouse becomes an assistant professor of biology at MIT and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

A Scott Cook and Signe Ostby Fellow since 2018, Knouse studies how tissues sense and respond to damage. The mammalian liver can regenerate itself and Knouse works to identify the molecular mechanisms at work, in order to bring regenerative capacity to other organs. As a Fellow, she developed novel genetic, molecular, and cellular tools for observing organ injury and repair in mice. For example, she successfully developed and implemented genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screening in the mouse liver—and hopes to use this tool to identify genes required for liver cells’ unique regenerative capability.