Biology Faculty

Assistant Professor
PhD, Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology, Tufts University, 2018; BS, Biological Sciences, Ohio University, 2008

Dr. LaBonty is a cell and developmental biologist and geneticist who has used a variety of model organisms to study the genetic basis of diseases. She joined the Biology Department in 2021 and teaches courses in principles of biology, cell biology, and microbiology. Her research uses the invertebrate organism C. elegans to identify genetic interactions that play a role in the proper function of the primary cilia, a tiny cellular structure essential for sensing behaviors in C. elegans. She uses gene editing techniques to study how gene disruptions alter the structure and function of ciliated sensory neurons and behaviors linked to these neurons. Previously, Dr. LaBonty studied skeletal development and diseases in zebrafish and cellular pattern formation in the eyes of fruit flies, both while pursuing her graduate degree at Tufts University. She found her original love for working with C. elegans as an undergraduate at Ohio University, studying neurotransmitter synthesis pathways, and also as a research technician at Northeastern University, where she looked at mechanisms driving cell fate determination.

Selected Publications

Gerten L**, Edwards A**, Brennan M**, Reynolds Q**, Bernstein S**, Springer T**, LaBonty M. DiI dye-filling as a simple and inexpensive tool to visualize ciliated sensory neurons in C. elegans. (In review)

Bentley-Ford MR*, LaBonty M*, Thomas HR, Haycraft CJ, Scott M**, LaFayette C, Croyle MJ, Andersen RS, Parant JM, Yoder BK. (2021) Evolutionarily conserved genetic interactions between nphp-4 and bbs-5 mutations exacerbate ciliopathy phenotypes. Genetics 220(1). doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyab209.

LaBonty M, Mills J, Seliga AM, Johnson R, Sharma A, Yu F. (2019) Clinical Genetics with C. elegans. Proceedings of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education 40.

LaBonty M, Pray N, Yelick PC. (2018) Injury of adult zebrafish expressing Acvr1lQ204D does not result in heterotopic ossification. Zebrafish 15(6): 536-545. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2018.1611.

LaBonty M, Yelick PC. (2018) Animal models of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. Developmental Dynamics 247(2): 279-288. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.24606.

LaBonty M, Pray N, Yelick PC. (2017) A zebrafish model of human Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. Zebrafish 14(4): 293-304. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2016.1398.

LaBonty M, Szmygiel C, Byrnes LE, Hughes S, Woollard A, Cram EJ. (2014) CACN-1/Cactin Plays a Role in Wnt Signaling in C. elegans. PLoS ONE 9(7): e101945. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0101945.

Office: SC 363
Phone: 541.552.6788
E-Mail: labontym@sou.edu