Benham-Pyle Lab
Principal Investigator: Blair Whitney Benham-Pyle
Institution: Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
SUMMARY Aging remains one of the most pressing biological challenges, yet the cellular and molecular mechanisms that limit lifespan, even in highly regenerative animals, remain poorly understood. Flatworms are renowned for their stem cell–driven regenerative abilities, but even among closely related species, they exhibit striking variation in reproductive strategies, regenerative potential, and longevity. The North American planarian Procotyla fluviatilis provides a unique opportunity to dissect these relationships: it reproduces seasonally and undergoes rapid soma decline following egg-laying, despite maintaining abundant stem cells and robust regenerative abilities. Prior studies on regeneration in P. fluviatilis have established essential genomic resources, functional assays, and methods for mechanistic studies. Building on these tools, this project will establish P. fluviatilis as a rigorous new model for aging research by (1) defining how stem cell function and tissue structure change across its seasonal life cycle, (2) mapping age-associated cellular and transcriptional changes using single-cell sequencing, and (3) testing whether conserved genetic and environmental regulator…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R21AG103300-01: Establishing Procotyla fluviatilis as a comparative model for aging research (2026)
- 1DP2AG093210-01: Uncovering cellular and molecular adaptations for whole-organism rejuvenation (2024)
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