Ashley Seifert: 2026-27 University Research Professor Q&A

Ashley W. Seifert, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has been honored as a 2026-27 University Research Professor.

Seifert’s interdisciplinary research group is constructing a blueprint for musculoskeletal regeneration to help inform next-generation regenerative and scar-reduction therapies. His research team takes a comparative approach using wild and laboratory rodents to identify drivers and inhibitors that direct tissue repair in mammals.

Seifert received a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and, after postdoctoral research, joined UK in 2013. He was promoted to professor in 2024. He has an associate faculty position in the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center in the UK College of Medicine and is a visiting professor in the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Nairobi.

He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Michael J. Fox Foundation, National Geographic and supported by private biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

He spoke with UKNow about his latest honor as a University Research Professor in this Q&A.

UKNow: What does it mean to you to be recognized as a University Research Professor?

Seifert: The recognition feels wonderful. It’s motivating to have leaders in our respective colleges say, “Hey, this professor has a research program that excels, and we want to celebrate their accomplishments more broadly across the university.”

UKNow: How will the professorships program advance your research?

Seifert: I see the program as an opportunity to build networks with researchers across campus, towards something that is much bigger than just my own research program, which will continue advancing of its own accord. I’ve dreamt of helping to create an initiative here that uses the theme of regeneration as a foundation to connect researchers across different colleges, and I’m hopeful that this award will be a catalyst for this endeavor. Although regeneration is often associated with medicine, conceptually, it also drives basic research in engineering, agriculture and ecosystem restoration. Beyond my own research program, funds from this award will help establish a framework for exploring and implementing a new initiative across campus.

UKNow: What inspired your focus on this area of research?

Seifert: My inspiration to focus on regenerative biology as a research topic derives from a natural curiosity for how nature has found multiple solutions to a common problem. Although all organisms incur tissue damage during their lifetime, not all of them exhibit a capacity for regeneration. This problem has always puzzled me and inspires me to uncover mechanisms that explain this variation.

UKNow: What continues to motivate your work?

Seifert: My interest in regeneration stems from a deep interest in understanding how systems rebuild and restore function after damage. As humans, we have an inherent understanding of our own limitations for tissue and organ regeneration, and yet there are countless organisms which possess an enhanced capacity to rebuild complex tissues as they were. When I look at scars on my own body, even small ones, or talk to amputees, I continue to wonder if we can collectively find ways to improve our limited ability for regeneration beyond current state-of-the art therapies. While not alone in this endeavor, I appreciate the complexity of the problem and want to contribute new ideas that clinicians, engineers and biomedical scientists can use in their own research programs. My ongoing work with spiny mice proves that complex tissue regeneration is indeed possible in mammals. I’m deeply motivated to discover the blueprint for how this is possible.

UKNow: How does your research impact Kentucky?

Seifert: I like to tell people I meet that my research has the potential to contribute to new regenerative therapies. While my lab doesn’t itself design new therapeutics, research advances emerging from our work studying regeneration in spiny mice have been of great interest to biomedical companies looking for new breakthroughs to combat fibrosis and stimulate natural regenerative potential. In a broader context, my work also taps into society’s natural curiosity for basic science. When Kentuckians of any age hear about my work, they get excited to learn more. These exchanges create dialogues that educate the public about how new clinical therapies are created.

About the University Research Professors

Each year, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approves a cohort of faculty as University Research Professors. The distinction recognizes excellence in work that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges in Kentucky and the world.

College leadership developed criteria for excellence within their area of expertise and then nominated faculty who excelled at these criteria. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000.