Rowan Karvas, PhD

Education
PhD in Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia July 2014-Jan 2020
Laboratory of Dr. Laura C. Schulz
Dissertation Title: Characterizing a Model of Early Human Placenta

Contact
Research Complex 2
12700 East 19th Avenue
Room P15-3104, MS 8613
Aurora, CO 80045

Phone: (303) 724-5237
Fax: (303) 724-3512

Research Interests
The vision I have for my laboratory research concerns the study of the early development of placental villi. This is a fairly unknown and understudied process in humans due to the inaccessibility of primary tissue. With the models I have developed during my postdoctoral work, I plan to utilize both stem-cell-derived trophoblast organoids and blastoids to study the development of villous trees. I believe that many diseases in pregnancy, which negatively impact both mother and fetus, potentially arise from the mal-development of villous trees. I plan to develop a multi-disciplinary laboratory that utilizes my 3D cell culture expertise and builds upon this with bioengineering techniques. Another important aspect of placental and child development relates to the interactions and support that the placenta provides to the growing fetus throughout gestation. In particular, a bourgeoning field of fetal health is beginning to recognize that fetal brain development potentially depends upon signaling cues from the placenta. I wish to study this interaction utilizing organoids of both trophoblast and cerebrum derived from stem cell sources.

Full List of Publications

Recent Publications

1. Amanda J. Stephens, Rowan M. Karvas, Katsu Adachi, Laura C. Schulz, Danny J. Schust. Modeling Preeclampsia: An Emerging Role for Stem Cells. NeoReviews Dec 2014. REVIEW.
2. Thotala, D., Karvas, R., Engelbach, J., Garbow, J., Hallahan, A., DeWees, T., Laszlo, A., & Hallahan, D. Valproic acid enhances the efficacy of radiation therapy by protecting normal hippocampal neurons and sensitizing malignant glioblastoma cells. Oncotarget, October 27, 2015. PMID: 26413814.
3. Rowan M. Karvas, Ying Yang, Toshihiko Ezashi, Danny J. Schust, R. Michael Roberts, Laura C. Schulz. ITGA1 is upregulated in response to oxygen over time in a BMP4 model of trophoblast. August 2018. Molecular Reproduction and Development. PMID: 30076663. Received cover photo for this issue.
4. Rowan M. Karvas, Samuel McInturf, Jie Zhou, Toshihiko Ezashi, Danny J. Schust, R. Michael Roberts and Laura C. Schulz*. Use of a human embryonic stem cell model to discover GABRP, WFDC2, VTCN1 and ACTC1 as markers of early first trimester human trophoblast. Molecular Human Reproduction April 2020. PMID: 32359161.
5. Karvas RM, Khan SA, Verma S, Yin Y, Kulkarni D, Dong C, Park KM, Chew B, Sane E, Fischer LA, Kumar D, Ma L, Boon ACM, Dietmann S, Mysorekar IU, Theunissen TW. Stem-cell-derived trophoblast organoids model human placental development and susceptibility to emerging pathogens. Cell Stem Cell. 2022 May 5. PMID: 35523141.
6. Dong C, Fu S, Karvas RM, Chew B, Fischer LA, Xing X, Harrison JK, Popli P, Kommagani R, Wang T, Zhang B, Theunissen TW. A genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screen identifies essential and growth-restricting genes in human trophoblast stem cells. Nat Commun. 2022 May 10. PMID: 35538076.
7. Karvas RM, David L, Theunissen TW. Accessing the human trophoblast stem cell state from pluripotent and somatic cells. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 Nov 25. PMID: 36434136. REVIEW.
8. Zhou J, Tian Y, Qu Y, Williams M, Yuan Y, Karvas RM, Sheridan MA, Schulz LC, Ezashi T, Roberts MR, Schust DJ. The immune checkpoint molecule, VTCN1/B7-H4, guides differentiation and suppresses proinflammatory responses and MHC class I expression in an embryonic stem cell-derived model of human trophoblast. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Mar 16. PMID: 37008954.
9. Karvas RM, Theunissen TW. Generation of 3D Trophoblast Organoids from Human Naïve Pluripotent Stem Cells. Methods Mol Biol. 2023 Jul 5. PMID: 37402094. METHODS CHAPTER.
10. Karvas RM, Zemke JE, Ali SS, Upton E, Sane E, Fischer LA, Dong C, Park KM, Wang F, Park K, Hao S, Chew B, Meyer B, Zhou C, Dietmann S, Theunissen TW. 3D-cultured blastoids model human embryogenesis from pre-implantation to early gastrulation stages. Cell Stem Cell. 2023 Sep 7. PMID: 37683602.