UMass Boston

Regeneration, Germline development, mRNA regulation

Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Texas-El Paso.

• Almazan EMP, Ryan JF, Rouhana L. (2021). Regeneration of Planarian Auricles and Reestablishment of Chemotactic Ability. Front Cell Developmental Biology, 9:777951. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.777951.
• Christman DA, Curry HN, Rouhana L. (2021). Heterotrimeric Kinesin II is required for flagellar assembly and elongation of nuclear morphology during spermiogenesis in Schmidtea mediterranea. Developmental Biology, 477:191-204. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2021.05.018.
• Lesko SL and Rouhana L. (2020). Dynein Assembly Factor with WD Repeat Domains 1 (DAW1) is required for the function of motile cilia in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Development, Growth & Differentiation, 62(6):423-437.
• Magley RA, Rouhana L. (2019). Tau tubulin kinase is required for spermatogenesis and development of motile cilia in planarian flatworms. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 30(17):2155-2170.
• Almazan EMP, Lesko SL, Markey MP, Rouhana L. (2018). Girardia dorotocephala transcriptome sequence, assembly, and validation through characterization of piwi homologs and stem cell progeny markers. Developmental Biology. 433(2):433-447.
• Rouhana L, Tasaki J, Saberi A, and Newmark PA. (2017). Genetic dissection of the planarian reproductive system through characterization of Schmidtea mediterranea CPEB homologs. Developmental Biology, Vol. 426, Issue 1, p43-55.
• Shibata N, Kashima M, Ishiko T, Nishimura O, Rouhana L, Misaki K, Yonemura S, Saito K, Siomi H, Siomi MC, and Agata K. (2016). Inheritance of a Nuclear PIWI from Pluripotent Stem Cells by Somatic Descendants Ensures Differentiation by Silencing Transposons in Planarian. Developmental Cell, Vol. 37, Issue 3, p226–237.
• Steiner JK, Tasaki J, and Rouhana L. (2016). Germline Defects Caused by Smed-boule RNA-Interference Reveal That Egg Capsule Deposition Occurs Independently of Fertilization, Ovulation, Mating, or the Presence of Gametes in Planarian Flatworms. PLoS Genetics 12(5): e1006030. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006030.
• Rouhana L, Weiss JA, King RS, and Newmark PA. (2014). PIWI homologs mediate histone mRNA localization to planarian chromatoid bodies. Development. 141(13): 2592-601.

• Rouhana L, Edgar A, Hugosson F, Dountcheva V, Martindale MQ, Ryan JF. 2023. Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Is an Ancestral Hallmark of Early Development in Animals. Molecular Biology & Evolution, Jun 1;40(6):msad137. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msad137.

• Rouhana L, Chong T, Newmark PA. 2022. Analysis of Morphogenesis and Flagellar Assembly During Spermatogenesis in Planarian Flatworms. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2364:199-216.

Background

Dr. Rouhana was born and raised in Mexico, where his father and maternal grandparents settled after leaving Lebanon. Dr. Rouhana's family moved to Texas when he was a teenager.  He attended the University of Texas at El Paso and earned a B.S. in Biology.  After graduating, Dr. Rouhana attended the Genetics Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a doctoral degree under the mentorship of Dr. Marvin P. Wickens.  After postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois and the Kyoto University, he began an independent position as Assistant Professor at Wright State University.  Eight years later, Dr. Rouhana joined the Department of Biology at UMass Boston, where he continues to study regeneration, development, and regulation of gene expression.

Research Interests

The Rouhana laboratory uses planarian flatworms to uncover genetic mechanisms behind germline development and stem-cell driven regeneration.  The lab is particularly interested in post-transcriptional regulatory events that orchestrate developmental processes.

Honors

• 2017 President’s Award for Excellence, Early Career Achievement (Wright State University)
• 2016 College of Science and Math, Dean’s Early Career Teaching Excellence Award (Wright State University)
• 2014 National Academy of Sciences Kavli Scholar
• 2012 Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
• 2009 National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

Additional Information

Dr. Rouhana is looking for dedicated undergraduate and graduate students, as well as potential postdocs.  Please e-mail cv and goals statement to labib.rouhana@umb.edu