Silvia Medrano, Ph.D.

Dr. Silvia Medrano received a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1988, followed by postdoctoral training in molecular, biology, and genetics at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Virginia. She joined the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia as a Senior Research Scientist in 2010.

The goal of Dr. Medrano’s research is to define the mechanisms that govern the identity and fate of the renin cell, a key player in the control of blood pressure, fluid electrolyte, and vascular homeostasis. She studied the role of miRNAs in renin cell fate and plasticity, and in the maintenance of kidney morphology and function. In addition, she contributed to studying the role of RBP-J, the final common effector of the Notch signaling pathway, in the regulation of the phenotype of the renin cells. She has successfully used CRISPR/Cas genome editing to introduce deletions in the renin locus and perform epigenetic manipulations in genomic areas important for renin expression. Dr. Medrano has also contributed to studying how inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system leads to concentric arterial hypertrophy in the kidney. She has designed and overseen the generation of several renin cell-specific Cre recombinase inducible and reporter mouse models. Dr. Medrano has been the Director of the PCEN Single Cell Core at the University of Virginia since 2016. She has established protocols for scRNA-seq, sc-ATAC-seq, sc-Multiomics, and other epigenomics techniques to study kidney cells