Associate Professor | Rutgers RWJMS
Dr. McKinnon has a PhD in Virology, and Fellowships in molecular genetics, neurobiology and glial cell biology. He has a five-decade record of novel, innovative and pioneering research in areas spanning bacterial and Drosophila genetics to cancer biology, glial and stem cell biology, and neurodegeneration. He elucidated how bacterial transposable elements target their insertion sites (1985). Dr. McKinnon pioneered the ‘bubbling’ modification of the calcium technique for DNA-mediated gene transfer (1986). He pioneered growth factors to expand tissue derived stem/progenitor cells in vitro (1990). He identified Wnt as the ligand for orphan receptor derailed that opened a new field of axon pathfinding (2003). He discovered the receptor tyrosine kinase ‘RTK rheostat’ that interprets ligand gradients for directed migration (2005). He defined threshold levels of cell therapeutics required to rescue a neurodegenerative disease (2008). And, he elucidated a pathway for toxin entry that circumvents the elaborate defense mechanisms protecting CNS neurons (2021). Dr. McKinnon’s lab has been generously funded by the NIH, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the NJ Commission on Spinal Cord Research, the Stem Cell Institute of NJ, and collaborations with biotechnology firms. Dr. McKinnon has also mentored innumerable undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, medical students and junior faculty members.
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Education:
Undergraduate:
BSc (Honors Biology), Queens University, Kingston Canada, 1978
Doctorate:
Ph.D (Virology), McMaster University, Hamilton Canada, 1984
Fellowship:
Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship, U.S. National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1988-1990.
Research Fellow, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla CA (J.G. Sutcliffe), 1987
Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Cancer Institute (Canada), 1984-1987
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Awards:
- Guest Editor, Brain Sciences “Myelin Repair” (2012)
- Dean’s Research Award, Rutgers-RWJMS; best student publication (2011)
- Invited Chair, 1st Int Forum on Stem Cells, Tianjin PRC (2008)
- Soc Neuroscience, Featured Abstract, Public Ed Communication Press Book (2007)
- NJ Comm Stem Cell Research – first public funded hESC research grant in USA (2007)
- Symposia Chair, American Society for Neurochemistry, Newport Beach CA (2003)
- Toshiba Exploravision Award, National Science Teachers Association, first place (2001)
- The Gallo Award, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (1998)
- Chair, Rutgers-RWJMS Distinguished Lecture Series (1998-2002)
- Member, NIH Center for Scientific Review, MCDN-6, NIH Bethesda (1998-2004)
- First Award, National Institute of Health, NINDS (1996)
- Jordi Folch-Pi Memorial Award, Am Soc Neurochemistry (1994)
- Academic Reporter, International School of Neuroscience, Praglia Italy (1992)
- Invited Instructor, Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole MA (1991, 1999)
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Research Interests:
- Molecular mechanism of tumor formation by myelin forming glial cells in the CNS (oligodendrocytes) and PNS (Schwann cells).
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Publications:
Nonrandom insertion of Tn5 into cloned human adenovirus DNA
McKinnon RD., JS Waye, D Bautista, FL Graham, Gene 40: 31-38 [PMID:3005126], 1985
Transformation of mammalian cells with DNA using the calcium technique
McKinnon RD., and FL Graham, Microinjection and Organelle Transplantation Techniques p.199-214, 1986
FGF modulates the PDGF-driven pathway of oligodendrocyte development.
McKinnon RD., T. Matsui, M. Dubois-Dalcq and S.A. Aaronson, Neuron 5:603-14 [PMID:2171589], 1990
Wnt-mediated axon guidance through the Drosophila Derailed receptor
Yoshikawa S., McKinnon RD., M Kokel, JB Thomas, Nature 422:583-88 [PMID:12660735], 2003
PDGFR alpha-Receptor signal strength controls an RTK Rheostat that integrates PI3’-kinase and PLC-g during oligodendrocyte maturation,
McKinnon RD., S Waldron, ME Kiel, J. Neurosci 25:3499-3508 [PMID:15814780], 2005
Stem cell-derived therapeutic myelin repair requires 7% cell replacement,
Kiel ME, CP Chen, D Sadowski, McKinnon RD., Stem Cells 26: 2229-36 [PMID:18635868], 2008
Adjunctive MSCs enhance myelin formation by xenogenic oligodendrocyte precursors transplanted in the retina,
Arriola, AG, ME Kiel, Y Shi, McKinnon RD., Cell Research 20:728-31 [PMID:20440303], 2010
Teratogenic potential in cultures optimized for oligodendrocyte development from embryonic stem cells,
Sadowski, D, ME Kiel, M Apicella, AG Arriola, CP Chen & McKinnon RD., Stem Cells and Development 19, 1343-53 [PMID:20131970], 2010
Suicide transport blockade of motor neuron survival generates a focal graded injury and functional deficit,
Liang, AS, JE Pagano, CA Chrzan and McKinnon RD., Neural Regen Research 16 (7) 1281-1287. [PMID:33318406], 2021
Security breach: peripheral nerves provide unrestricted access for toxin delivery into the CNS,
Lupinski, I, AS Liang and McKinnon RD., Neural Regen Research 18(1):64-67 [PMID: 35799510], 2023
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Location:
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Staged Research Building
661 Hoes Lane West, room 141
Piscataway, NJ 08854