Robert Tower, Ph.D.

Download Curriculum Vitae

Robert Tower is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery with appointments in the Center for Organogenesis Research and Trauma and the Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research. Dr. Tower is originally from Edmonton, AB, Canada where he obtained his BS in Molecular Genetics and his MS in Cell Biology from the University of Alberta, then later conducted his PhD in Germany at the Christian Albrechts University. Dr. Tower has conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. In 2021, Dr. Tower was recruited to UTSW where his lab focusses on musculoskeletal biology, understanding the complex cellular interactions which occur under physiological conditions, molecular changes which occur following injury, and how these pathways dictate regenerative or fibrotic healing outcomes. Dr. Tower is supported  by grants from the National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense.

• Bioinformatics
• Bone Biology
• Fracture Healing
• Limb Regeneration
• Osteo-immunology

Featured Publications

Single-cell mapping of regenerative and fibrotic healing responses after musculoskeletal injury.

Tower RJ, Bancroft AC, Chowdary AR, Barnes S, Edwards NJ, Pagani CA, Dawson LA, Levi B, Stem Cell Reports 2022 Sep

Spatial transcriptomics reveals metabolic changes underly age-dependent declines in digit regeneration.

Tower RJ, Busse E, Jaramillo J, Lacey M, Hoffseth K, Guntur AR, Simkin J, Sammarco MC, Elife 2022 May 11

NGF-p75 signaling coordinates skeletal cell migration during bone repair.

Xu J, Li Z, Tower RJ, Negri S, Wang Y, Meyers CA, Sono T, Qin Q, Lu A, Xing X, McCarthy EF, Clemens TL, James AW, Sci Adv 2022 Mar 8 11 eabl5716

Spatial transcriptomics reveals a role for sensory nerves in preserving cranial suture patency through modulation of BMP/TGF-? signaling.

Tower RJ, Li Z, Cheng YH, Wang XW, Rajbhandari L, Zhang Q, Negri S, Uytingco CR, Venkatesan A, Zhou FQ, Cahan P, James AW, Clemens TL, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021 Oct 118 42

Single cell transcriptomics identifies a unique adipose lineage cell population that regulates bone marrow environment.

Zhong L, Yao L, Tower RJ, Wei Y, Miao Z, Park J, Shrestha R, Wang L, Yu W, Holdreith N, Huang X, Zhang Y, Tong W, Gong Y, Ahn J, Susztak K, Dyment N, Li M, Long F, Chen C, Seale P, Qin L, Elife 2020 04 9

Tppp3⁺ synovial/tendon sheath progenitor cells contribute to heterotopic bone after trauma.

Yea JH, Gomez-Salazar M, Onggo S, Li Z, Thottappillil N, Cherief M, Negri S, Xing X, Qin Q, Tower RJ, Fan CM, Levi B, James AW, Bone Res 2023 Jul 11 1 39

Neutrophil and NETosis Modulation in Traumatic Heterotopic Ossification.

Nunez JH, Juan C, Sun Y, Hong J, Bancroft AC, Hwang C, Medrano J, Huber AK, Tower RJ, Levi B, Ann Surg 2023 Jun

Discoidin domain receptor 2 regulates aberrant mesenchymal lineage cell fate and matrix organization.

Pagani CA, Bancroft AC, Tower RJ, Livingston N, Sun Y, Hong JY, Kent RN, Strong AL, Nunez JH, Medrano JMR, Patel N, Nanes BA, Dean KM, Li Z, Ge C, Baker BM, James AW, Weiss SJ, Franceschi RT, Levi B, Sci Adv 2022 Dec 8 51 eabq6152

A specialized metabolic pathway partitions citrate in hydroxyapatite to impact mineralization of bones and teeth.

Dirckx N, Zhang Q, Chu EY, Tower RJ, Li Z, Guo S, Yuan S, Khare PA, Zhang C, Verardo A, Alejandro LO, Park A, Faugere MC, Helfand SL, Somerman MJ, Riddle RC, de Cabo R, Le A, Schmidt-Rohr K, Clemens TL, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022 Nov 119 45 e2212178119

Macrophage-mediated PDGF Activation Correlates with Regenerative Outcomes Following Musculoskeletal Trauma.

Chowdary AR, Maertz T, Henn D, Hankenson KD, Pagani CA, Marini S, Gallagher K, Aguilar CA, Tower RJ, Levi B, Ann Surg 2022 Sep

• ASBMR Mid-Career Faculty Travel Award
  (2023)
• ASBMR Harold M Frost Young Investigator Award
  (2022)
• UTSW Faculty of Surgery Pilot Award
  (2022)
• ASBMR Young Investigator Award
  (2021)
• Journal of Clinical Investigation Editorial Board Scholar
  (2021)
• ASBMR Young Investigator Travel Award
  (2018)
• ICMRS Webster Jee Young investigator award
  (2018)
• ORS New Investigator Research Award (NIRA) Finalist
  (2018)
• Regeneron Prize University Finalist
  (2018)
• UPenn Art in Science Award
  (2018)
• UPenn Biomedical Postdoc Program Travel Grant
  (2018)

• European Calcified Tissue Society (2012-2015)
• European Society for Molecular Imaging (2012-2015)
• Orthopedic Research Society (ORS) (2018)
• Shock Society (2022)
• The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) (2018)
• World Molecular Imaging Society (2012-2015)