Ashlee H. Rowe PhD

Ashlee Rowe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Oklahoma. She is a broadly trained neurobiologist and my research program integrates venom biochemistry with genetics.

Ashlee Rowe focuses on predator-prey behavior because these interactions rely on fast, specialized sensory inputs and motor responses and because the ion channels that encode sensory information and regulate motor responses to stimuli are genetically and physiologically tractable. Moreover, because ion channels are crucial for all physiological processes, they are targets of venom-derived toxins produced by diverse taxa. She uses scorpion neurotoxins (polypeptides) that reversibly modify the activation and inactivation gates of voltage-dependent sodium and potassium ion channels to probe these targets in the nerve and muscle tissue of predatory mice.

In 2017, She was recruited by the University of Oklahoma to fill a Molecular Neurobiology position as part of a cluster hire in The Biology of Behavior. This transition enabled me to advance my research on the biophysical interactions between venom peptides and their ion channel targets via collaborations with researchers in the NIH-funded Oklahoma Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Structural Biology. She is currently working with proteomics and structural biology researchers to elucidate the mechanisms of peptide-mediated ion channel inhibition. A better understanding of the biophysical interactions between venom peptides and Nav1.8 will provide a structural guide for developing novel pain therapeutics.