David J. Grunwald

David J. Grunwald, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Human Genetics

David Grunwald, PhD, is Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby Presidential Endowed Chair of Human Genetics at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He is Director of the NIH-sponsored Genetics Training Program, Executive Director of Zebrafish Core Facilities, and a member of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Grunwald's research team studies cell-intrinsic and as well as intercellular signaling factors that regulate the maintenance or direct the differentiation of tissue precursor cells. Perturbation of these pathways during embryogenesis underlies birth defects, including a series of congenital myopathies that are modeled in the lab. Perturbation of tissue maintenance and turnover is a direct contributor to the origins of cancer. One project in the lab focuses on the role of a transcription factor complex required to maintain the undifferentiated condition of stem cells, which are reminiscent of cancer stem cells. A second project examines the role of calcium mobilization in signaling pathways that instruct tissue differentiation from precursor cells. In addition, the lab develops new tools to manipulate the genome to advance the study of gene function in zebrafish, which is a vertebrate model system for human disease, such as cancer.

Grunwald earned his BA in Biology from Williams College and his PhD in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He performed postdoctoral studies at the University of Oregon and Princeton University before joining the Department of Human Genetics in 1988. The lab has been supported by March of Dimes, Sloan Foundation, American Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Science Foundation, and the NIH.

Education History

Undergraduate Williams College
 BA
Doctoral Training University of Wisconsin
 PhD
Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Oregon
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Postdoctoral Fellowship Princeton University
 Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Jurynec MJ, Sawitzke AD, Beals TC, Redd MJ, Stevens J, Otterud B, Leppert MF, Grunwald D (2018). A hyperactivating proinflammatory RIPK2 allele associated with early-onset osteoarthritis. Human molecular genetics, 27(13), 2383-2391. (Read full article)
  2. Klatt Shaw D, Gunther D, Jurynec MJ, Chagovetz AA, Ritchie E, Grunwald D (2018). Intracellular Calcium Mobilization Is Required for Sonic Hedgehog Signaling. Developmental cell, 45(4), 512-525.e5. (Read full article)
  3. Hoshijima K, Jurynec MJ, Grunwald D (2016). Precise Editing of the Zebrafish Genome Made Simple and Efficient. Developmental cell, 36(6), 654-67. (Read full article)
  4. Grunwald D (2013). A revolution coming to a classic model organism. Nature methods, 10(4), 303, 305-6. (Read full article)
  5. Dahlem TJ, Hoshijima K, Jurynec MJ, Gunther D, Starker CG, Locke AS, Weis AM, Voytas DF, Grunwald D (2012). Simple methods for generating and detecting locus-specific mutations induced with TALENs in the zebrafish genome. PLoS genetics, 8(8), e1002861. (Read full article)
  6. Chagovetz AA, Klatt Shaw D, Ritchie E, Hoshijima K, Grunwald D (2019). Interactions among Ryanodine Receptor isotypes contribute to muscle fiber type development and function. Disease models & mechanisms, (Read full article)