University of Virginia-Main Campus · BiochemistrySmith Genomics Lab
Jeffrey Scott Smith · Charlottesville, Virginia
Research Focus
Dr. Jeffrey Scott Smith's lab at the University of Virginia studies how aging affects the stability of specific regions of DNA, particularly those that produce ribosomal RNA. The lab focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms behind DNA damage and repair, especially how certain proteins can both cause and prevent genomic instability. By using yeast and human cell models, the research aims to uncover fundamental insights into how DNA maintains its integrity during the aging process, which could have implications for health and longevity.
aginggenomic instabilityDNA repairribosomal RNAcell senescencehuman cellsyeast modelsDNA double strand breaksgene regulation
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the role of Fob1 in DNA double strand breaks and aging in yeast.
AIM 02Determine how UAF regulates rDNA stability in response to DNA damage.
AIM 03Explore the function of TTF1 in human cells related to ribosomal DNA stability.
AIM 04Examine the three-dimensional structure of Fob1 target sites during aging.
AIM 05Identify novel binding sites that affect rDNA integrity across species.
Skills the Lab Values
DNA repair assaysyeast geneticscell culturegenome mappingWestern blot analysisRNA sequencingPCRbioinformaticsmicroscopy
Output against the department
Publications163bottom 47% of dept.215th of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations2.6kbottom 12% of dept.354th of 402
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.