Van Sciver Lab

C.V.

A PDF of my complete CV can be downloaded by clicking here. 

Research Interest

The Van Sciver Lab investigates how primary cilia regulate cellular signaling and how defects in these pathways drive disease, with a particular focus on polycystic kidney disease (PKD). PKD is the most common genetic cause of kidney failure, characterized by the formation of fluid-filled renal cysts and a subsequent decline in kidney function. Our research centers on the ciliary ARL13B–ARL3–INPP5E signaling axis, exploring how the precise trafficking and localization of these key regulators control cyst formation. More broadly, we study how the cilium maintains its distinct protein and lipid composition: through targeted delivery, ubiquitin-dependent removal of signaling proteins from the cilium, signaling-dependent turnover, and the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs). By combining genetic mouse models with advanced cellular imaging, we aim to uncover the fundamental “gatekeeping” mechanisms of the cilium and identify new therapeutic targets for PKD and other ciliopathies.

Training & Positions

2025 – present
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL

Assistant Professor

Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology

2019 – 2025
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Fellowships in Research and Science Teaching (FIRST) IRACDA Fellow

Research Advisor: Dr. Tamara Caspary, Professor of Human Genetics, Emory University
Teaching Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey Handy, Professor of Biology, Morehouse College

2013 – 2019
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Norfolk, VA

Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences

Dissertation: Seven-in-absentia (SINA) family E3 ligases in development and oncogenic K-RAS-driven cancer biology
Advisor: Dr. Amy H. Tang, Professor of Cancer Biology

2001 – 2005
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA

B.S., Chemical Engineering

Senior Thesis: Combinatorial chemistry: developing an automated high throughput reaction screening system
Advisor: Dr. H. Mario Geysen, Alfred Burger Professor, Professor of Chemistry

Grants & Fellowships

NIH Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award K01

2024 – 2029

NIDDK (K01-DK140605)

Role: PI

Direct: $645,111

Title: Unraveling the Ciliary Driver of Polycystic Kidney Disease

Goal: To understand players of the cilia-dependent cyst activating pathway driving renal cystogenesis in polycystic kidney disease by identifying critical residues in ARL13B mediating its interaction with ARL3, INPP5E, and CDK1 and test their role directly in mouse models of PKD.

Carl W. Gottschalk Research Scholar Grant

2026 – 2028

KidneyCure & American Society of Nephrology (Link)

Role: PI

Title: Unraveling Ciliary Signaling Defects in Polycystic Kidney Disease

Goal: My lab has established ARL13B GEF activity as a critical driver of PKD. This grant aims to reveal whether additional ARF and ARL GTPases are targets of ARL13B GEF activity, the residues required for their interaction, and directly test ARL3 as the next critical therapeutic “touchpoint” of renal cystogenesis in PKD mouse models.

PKD RRC Pilot and Feasibility Grant

2026 – 2027

Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Resource Consortium

Role: PI

Title: Uncovering a Cilia-Extracellular Vesicle Signaling Atlas for Polycystic Kidney Disease

Goal: Delineate the ciliary and extracellular vesicle hypotheses of polycystic kidney disease pathogenesis. This work aims to use organoid models to understand the role of polycystins and the ARL13B effector, INPP5E, in EV biogenesis, cargo composition, and pathogenesis.

NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F32

2020 – 2024

NIDDK (F32-DK127848)

Role: PI

Direct: $290,910

Title: The critical ciliary role of ARL13B in kidney cystogenesis

Goal: To understand ARL13B’s ciliary function in kidney cystogenesis, identify downstream molecular regulators of ARL13B-mediated cystogenesis, and inform the role of ciliary ARL13B in regulating the cilia-dependent cyst activation factor driving renal cystogenesis

NIH Institutional Research And Career Development Award (IRACDA) K12

2019 – 2022*

NIGMS (K12-GM000680)

Role: Fellow

Title: IRACDA Fellowships in Research and Science Teaching (FIRST)

Goal: Enhance inclusive excellence by providing postdoctoral fellows with traditional research-intensive experience coupled with mentored teaching activities at minority serving institutions (MSIs) in the Atlanta metropolitan area
* Terminated in 2020 to begin individual NRSA F32 fellowship

Publications

  1. Van Sciver RE, Forster AK, Lewis LM, Caspary T. Ciliary ARL13B Drives Cystogenesis in the Kidney via Its GEF Activity. J Am Soc Nephrol. In Press. PMID: 42636066. DOI: 10.1681/ASN.0000001238.
  2. Long AB, Wilson IM, Terry T, Van Sciver RE, Caspary T. ARL13B-Cerulean rescues Arl13b-null mouse from embryonic lethality and reveals a role for ARL13B in spermatogenesis. J Cell Sci. 2025 Oct 15;138(20):jcs264009. PMID: 40916698. DOI: 10.1242/jcs.264009.
  3. Van Sciver RE, Caspary T. A prioritization tool for cilia-associated genes and their in vivo resources unveils new avenues for ciliopathy research. Dis Model Mech. 2024 Sep 12:dmm.052000. PMID: 39263856. DOI: 10.1242/dmm.052000.
  4. Van Sciver RE, Long AB, Katz HG, Gigante ED, Caspary T. Ciliary ARL13B inhibits developmental kidney cystogenesis in mouse. Dev Biol. 2023 Aug:500:1-9. PMID: 37209936. DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2023.05.004.
    * Selected for cover image of 500th issue of Developmental Biology.
  5. Miller-Kleinhenz JM, Kuzmishin Nagy AB, Majewska AA, Adebayo Michael AO, Najmi SM, Nguyen KH, Van Sciver RE, Fonkoue IT. Let’s talk about race: changing the conversations around race in academia. Commun Biol. 2021 Aug 5; 4(1): 902. PMID: 34354238. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02409-2.
  6. Gupta G, Lee CD, Guye ML, Van Sciver RE, Lee MP, Lafever AC, Pang A, Tang-Tan AM, Winston JS, Samli B, Jansen RJ, Hoefer RA, Tang AH. An unmet clinical need: Developing prognostic biomarkers and precision medicine to forecast early tumor relapse, detect chemo-resistance, and improve overall survival in high-grade locally advanced, relapsed, and malignant breast cancer. Ann Breast Cancer Ther. 2020 May 2; 4(1): 48–57. PMID: 32542231 DOI: 10.36959/739/525.
  7. Van Sciver RE*, Lee MP*, Lee CD, Lafever AC, Svyatova E, Kanda K, Colliver AL, van Reesema LLS, Tang-Tan AM, Zheleva V, Bwayi MN, Bian M, Schmidt RL, Matrisian LM, Petersen GM, Tang AH. A New Strategy to Control and Eradicate “Undruggable” Oncogenic K-RAS-Driven Pancreatic Cancer : Molecular Insights and Core Principles Learned from Developmental and Evolutionary Biology. Cancers (Basel). 2018 May 14; 10(5). pii: E142. PMID: 29757973 DOI:10.3390/cancers10050142.
  8. Pepper IJ, Van Sciver RE, Tang, AH. Phylogenetic Analysis of the SINA/SIAH Ubiquitin E3 Ligase Family in Metazoa. BMC Evol Biol. 2017 Aug 7;17(1):182. PMID: 28784114 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-1024-x
  9. Jananji S, Risi C, Lindamulage IK, Picard LP, Van Sciver R, Laflamme G, Albaghjati A, Hickson GR, Kwok BH, Galkin VE. Multimodal and polymorphic interactions between anillin and actin: Their implications for cytokinesis. J Mol Biol. 2017; 429 (5): 715–31. PMID: 28147230 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2017.01.020
  10. Gildea JJ, Van Sciver RE, McGrath HE, Kemp BA, Jose PA, Carey RM, Felder RA. Dopaminergic immunofluorescence studies in kidney tissue. Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1527:151-161. PMID: 28116714 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6625-7_12
  11. Van Sciver RE*, Njogu MM*, Isbell AJ, Odanga JJ, Bian M, Svyatova E, Siewertsz van Reesema LL, Zheleva V, Eisner JL, Bruflat JK, Schmidt RL, Tang-Tan AM, Tang AH. Blocking SIAH Proteolysis, an Important K-RAS Vulnerability, to Control and Eradicate K-RAS-Driven Metastatic Cancer. in Conquering RAS: From Biology to Cancer Therapy. 2017;213-232. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-803505-4.00012-6
  12. Siewertsz van Reesema LL*, Zheleva V*, Winston JS*, Jansen RJ, O’Connor CF, Isbell AJ, Bian M, Qin R, Bassett PT, Hinson VJ, Dorsch KA, Kirby BW, Van Sciver RE, Tang-Tan AM, Harden EA, Chang DZ, Allen CA, Perry RR, Hoefer, RA, Tang AH. SIAH and EGFR, two RAS pathway biomarkers, are prognostic in locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer. EBioMedicine. 2016 Aug 14; 11: 183-98. PMID: 27569656 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.08.014
  13. Harris SP, Belknap B, Van Sciver RE, White HD, Galkin VE. C0 and C1 N-terminal Ig domains of myosin binding protein C exert different effects on thin filament activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2016 Feb 9;113(6):1558-63. PMID: 26831109 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518891113
  14. Gildea JJ, Seaton JE, Victor KG, Reyes CM, Bigler Wang D, Pettigrew AC, Courtner CE, Shah N, Tran HT, Van Sciver RE, Carlson JM, Felder RA. Exosomal Transfer from Human Renal Proximal Tubule Cells to Distal Tubule and Collecting Duct Cells. Biochem. 2014;47(15):89-94. PMID: 24976626 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2014.06.018
  15. Gildea JJ, Shah IT, Van Sciver RE, Israel JA, Enzensperger C, McGrath HE, Jose PA, Felder RA. The cooperative roles of the dopamine receptors, D1R and D5R, on the regulation of renal sodium transport. Kidney Int. 2014;86(1):118-26. PMID: 24552847 DOI: 10.1038/ki.2014.5
  16. Gildea JJ, Lahiff DT, Van Sciver RE, Weiss RS, Shah N, McGrath HE, Schoeffel CD, Jose PA, Carey RM, Felder RA. A linear relationship between the ex-vivo sodium mediated expression of two sodium regulatory pathways as a surrogate marker of salt sensitivity of blood pressure in exfoliated human renal proximal tubule cells: the virtual renal biopsy. Clin Chim Acta. 2013;421:236-42. PMID: 23454474 DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2013.02.021
  17. Gildea JJ, Tran HT, Van Sciver RE, Bigler Wang D, Carlson JM, Felder RA. A novel role for c-Myc in G protein-coupled receptor kinase 4 (GRK4) transcriptional regulation in human kidney proximal tubule cells. Hypertension. 2013;61(5):1021-7. PMID: 23509080 DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.00321
  18. Gildea JJ, McGrath HE, Van Sciver RE, Wang DB, Felder RA. Isolation, growth, and characterization of human renal epithelial cells using traditional and 3D methods. Methods Mol Biol. 2013;945:329-45. PMID: 23097116 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-62703-125-7_20
  19. Gildea JJ, Wang X, Shah N, Tran H, Spinosa M, Van Sciver R, Sasaki M, Yatabe J, Carey RM, Jose PA, Felder RA. Dopamine and Angiotensin type 2 receptors cooperatively inhibit sodium transport in human renal proximal tubule cells. Hypertension. 2012;60(2):396-403. PMID: 22710646 DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.112.194175
  20. Gildea JJ, Kemp BA, Howell NL, Van Sciver RE, Carey RM, Felder RA. Inhibition of renal caveolin-1 reduces natriuresis and produces hypertension in sodium-loaded rats. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2011;300(4):F914-20. PMID: 21289050 DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00380.2010

Teaching Experience

2026
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Co-Instructor, Development and Cancer Journal Club (GBSC 700; graduate students)

2026
UAB Heersink School of Medicine

Preceptor, Renal Module Small Groups (PCL1170; medical students)

2025 – 2026
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Guest Facilitator, Responsible Conduct of Research (GRD 717; graduate students & postdoctoral fellows)

Led discussions for the Mentor-Mentee Responsibilities and Animal Research modules.

2021 – 2023
Emory University

Guest Facilitator, M1 Genetics Small Groups on Mendelian Risk Analysis

Facilitated active learning activities and case studies with first year medical students, 1-2 class sessions each fall semester

2021
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories (Virtual)

Teaching Assistant, Mouse Engineering Mini-Course and Workshop Series

(Course Directors: Drs. Tamara Caspary, Camilla Forsberg, Diana Laird, and Francesca Mariani)
Facilitated 12 workshops across a week-long intensive mouse genetics and engineering virtual mini-course covering topics including mouse databases, Cre/lox breeding, conditional alleles, CRISPR editing, inducible systems & reporter strategies, and mosaic analysis with double markers (MADM)

2021
Emory University

Guest Lecturer, Cell Biology (BIOL250; undergraduate students)

Presentation of current research to exemplify how to prepare goals, background, approach, and expected outcomes for hypothesis-driven research proposals

2020
Morehouse College

Instructor, General Biology (undergraduate students)

Co-instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Handy

Introductory biology course for biology majors. 50% responsibility for this course, including content preparation and delivery, exam creation and grading, and facilitating all active learning sessions.

Enrollment: 46 undergraduates
Course Rating: 4.4/5
Instructor Rating: 4.7/5