Michael Blower, PhD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Mike Blower is a Professor of Cell Biology and Biochemistry at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University.

Mike received his B.A. from Miami University (Ohio), his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego under the mentorship of Gary Karpen. He was a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley with Rebecca Heald and Karsten Weis. Following his postdoctoral training he was an Assistant and Associate Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School while managing a research lab in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the recipient of a Burroughs-Wellcome Fund career Award in the Biomedical Sciences and many different grants from the NIH.

Mike’s current work focuses on the interaction of RNA with chromatin and how these interactions influence chromatin structure and gene expression. Additionally his lab studies the regulation of chromatin:RNA interactions throughout the cell cycle. His lab uses a multidisciplinary approach that integrates, cell biology, in vitro reconstitution, genomics and bioinformatics, and CRISPR genome engineering.

Publications

  • Published 9/17/2025

    Watanabe R, Perea-Resa C, Blower MD. Robust CENP-A incorporation in human cells is independent of transcription and cohesin components. Mol Biol Cell. 2025 Nov 01; 36(11):br30. PMID: 40961235.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/2/2025

    Nakos K, Wijeratne S, Blower M, Subramanian R. A minimum module for positioning the Chromosomal Passenger Complex at the cell center for cytokinesis. bioRxiv. 2025 Sep 02. PMID: 40950017.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/10/2025

    Sharp JA, Sparago E, Thomas R, Alimenti K, Wang W, Blower MD. Role of the SAF-A/HNRNPU SAP domain in X chromosome inactivation, nuclear dynamics, transcription, splicing, and cell proliferation. PLoS Genet. 2025 Jun; 21(6):e1011719. PMID: 40493679.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/1/2025

    Watanabe R, Perea-Resa C, Blower MD. Robust CENP-A incorporation in human cells is independent of transcription and cohesin components. bioRxiv. 2025 May 01. PMID: 40654925.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/10/2024

    Sharp JA, Sparago E, Thomas R, Alimenti K, Wang W, Blower MD. Role of the SAF-A SAP domain in X inactivation, transcription, splicing, and cell proliferation. bioRxiv. 2024 Sep 10. PMID: 39314300.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 44 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Websites

Education

  • University of California, San Diego, PhD
  • Miami University, BA

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