Erin J. Cram

Affiliated Faculty,  Bioengineering
Professor,  Biology
Associate Dean for Research,  College of Science

Contact

Office

  • 617.373.7533

Related Links

Research Focus

Cell migration and mechanotransduction in C. elegans, improving production of drug compounds by medicinal plants

Education

  • Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2000
  • B.S., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Research Overview

Cell migration and mechanotransduction in C. elegans, improving production of drug compounds by medicinal plants

Selected Research Projects

  • PlantSynBio: A Novel CRISPR SynBio Tool for Investigating and Reprogramming the Regulation of Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Elucidating the Role of ERM Proteins in Cytoskeletal Orientation in a Contractile Tissue
    • – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • In Vivo Analysis of Mechanotransduction
    • – Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health
  • Zinc Finger Transcription Factors: Regulators of Growth, Development, and Alkaloid Biosynthesis
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation

Selected Publications

  • Kelley CA, Triplett O, Mallick S, Burkewitz K, Mair WB, Cram EJ. (2020) FLN-1/filamin is required to anchor the actomyosin cytoskeleton and for global organization of sub-cellular organelles in a contractile tissue. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken). 2020 Oct;77(10):379-398. doi: 10.1002/cm.21633.
  • Castaneda PG, Cecchetelli AD, Pettit HN, Cram EJ. (2020) Gα/GSA-1 works upstream of PKA/KIN-1 to regulate calcium signaling and contractility in the Caenorhabditis elegans spermatheca. PLoS Genet. 2020 Aug 10;16(8):e1008644. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008644.
  • C.A. Kelley, S. De Henau, L. Bell, T.B. Dansen, E.J. Cram Redox signaling modulates Rho activity and tissue contractility in the C. elegans spermatheca, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2020, May 6
  • S. Mortensen, D. Bernal-Franco, L.F. Cole, S. Sathitloetsakun, E.J. Cram, C.W.T. Lee-Parsons, EASI Transformation: An Efficient Transient Expression Method for Analyzing Gene Function in Catharanthus Roseus Seedlings, Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, 2019, 755
  • J. Bouffard, A.D. Cecchetelli, C. Clifford, K. Sethi, R. Zaidel-Bar, E.J. Cram, The RhoGAP SPV-1 Regulates Calcium Signaling to Control the Contractility of the Caenorhabditis Elegans Spermatheca during Embryo Transits, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 30(7), 2019, 907-922
Carolyn Lee-Parsons and Erin Cram

Faculty

Mar 03, 2021

Investigating the Defense-Related Responses of Plants

ChE/COS Associate Professor Carolyn Lee-Parsons and BioE Affiliated Faculty member Erin Cram were awarded an $800K NSF grant for creating ” A Novel CRISPR SynBio Tool for Investigating and Reprogramming the Regulation of Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus.”

Harikrishnan Parameswaran

Faculty

Aug 17, 2020

Research on Extracellular Matrix Making Waves for Asthma Therapy

BioE Assistant Professor Harikrishnan Parameswaran’s research on “Intercellular communication controls agonist-induced calcium oscillations independently of gap junctions in smooth muscle cells” was published in Science Advances.

Faculty

Apr 09, 2019

FY20 TIER 1 Award Recipients

25 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY20 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 18 different projects representing up to $900K dollars of investment in research.

Mar 22, 2016

FY17 TIER 1 Award Recipients

23 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY17 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 12 different projects representing over $600K dollars of investment in research.

Faculty

Apr 04, 2012

FY13 TIER 1 Award Recipients

27 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY13 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 21 different research projects.

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