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Dr. Zomer has more than 14 years of research experience in cellular and molecular biology with a primary focus on regenerative medicine. Her major research interest has been in studying factors leading to robust tissue regeneration using skin wound healing as a model. Because chronic skin wounds disproportionally affect older adults, her current focus is on understanding the biology of aged skin wounds. 

Dr. Zomer unusual background (DVM, MS, PhD) gives her a unique perspective and set of skills to answer her research questions. As a veterinarian, she follows the concept of One Health — the multidisciplinary collaborative efforts to attain optimal health for people, animals, and our environment — so that her research uses my clinical veterinary training in service of both human and animal health. 

Dr. Zomer discovered her passion for regenerative medicine early in her training, and as a veterinary student, she had the opportunity to learn about stem cell research from excellent, internationally recognized scientists in Brazil, including Drs. Nance Nardi and Carlos Eduardo Ambrosio. After earning her DVM degree, she pursued a master's (mentored by Dr. Ambrosio at the University of Sao Paulo) and a PhD (mentored by Dr. Andrea Trentin at the Federal University of Santa Catarina) in stem cell biology and skin wound healing. Dr. Zomer's master’s work involved inducing pluripotency in rabbit adipose-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) with the hypothesis that MSCs would be more efficiently reprogrammed than fibroblasts due to their basal multipotency and was one of the first studies to show that the cells’ proliferation status influence cell reprogramming. Later, her PhD work aimed to comparatively investigate two sources of human MSCs and their respective secretomes, which are rich in exosomes, microvesicles, and growth factors, in association with a commercial collagen-based biomaterial for skin repair in a mouse model. She found that dermal-derived MSCs produce better overall results than adipose-derived MSCs in the context of wound healing, indicating that the source of MSCs influences the clinical outcome of cell therapies. In 2017, during her PhD, she won an award for an internship at Dr. Buddy Ratner's bioengineering laboratory at the University of Washington and had her first research experience in the United States. There she investigated the effects of MSCs on macrophage polarization over time during the process of wound healing and was introduced to the fascinating engineering side of regenerative medicine research, learning several state-of-the-art tissue engineering techniques. With these experiences, she built hery expertise in isolating and culturing human MSCs and their secretomes, skin wound healing, mouse models, and related techniques such as histopathology, immunostaining, and proteomics. 

Overall, during graduate school, she learned how to develop and execute projects independently, persevere when experiments fail, manage my time effectively, communicate science with the general public, and work with mentees of all experience levels. By working in multidisciplinary teams, Dr. Zomer learned that she is driven as a researcher by the potential for her work to have an impact on both human and animal health. 

After earning her PhD, Dr. Zomer pursued postdoctoral training in molecular biology under the supervision of Dr. Prabhakara Reddi at the University of Illinois to improve her understanding of biological mechanisms and expand her toolbox of techniques to allow her to thrive as an independent scientist. She investigated the transcriptional regulation of spermatogenesis by specifically deleting Tardbp and Nelfb in testicular cells using conditional knockout systems to understand how they affect fertility. She learned a broad range of new techniques, including genotyping, PCR and qPCR, western blotting, plasmid preparation, transfection, RNAi, lineage tracing, and conditional knockout mouse models. 

In 2021, Dr. Zomer joined the Department of Physiogical Sciences at the University of Florida (UF) as a Research Assistant Professor, and with the excellent guidance of her mentor, Dr. Paul Cooke and co-mentors, Drs. Greg Schultz, Shinichi Someya, Peter McFetridge, Philip Efron, and Helen Jones, she has been developing her unique, independent research program performed at the Zomer lab. 

Research Alignment: Assess whether your research interests align with the focus of the Zomer lab. Look into our publications, ongoing projects, and Dr. Zomer's expertise to determine if our research aligns with your interests and career goals.

Lab Culture and Environment: We value a happy workplace and advocate for a healthy work-life balance. We believe graduate school/academia should be fun and not stressful. Our goal is to promote diversity and inclusion for all people interested in science. Ask us how you can reach out to current or former lab members to gain insights into the lab's culture, dynamics, and working environment. Consider factors such as mentorship style, collaboration opportunities, and the Zomer lab approach to research and innovation.

Resources and Support: The Zomer lab is part of the Department of Physiological Sciences from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida. The Zomer lab is positioned within a rich environment with resources available at the Dept, the College and the University level. Dr. Zomer research is currently funded by the Wound Healing Society, the  UF Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Center and the Hevolution Foundation.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration: The Zomer lab encourage interdisciplinary collaborations between clinicians and basic science researchers from different departments, universities and countries for a well-rounded view of our research questions.

Career Development Opportunities: Guiding trainees to reach their unique personal goals is our priority. Whether you aim to pursue an academic or industry career, Dr. Zomer will support your choice and help you develop the skills you need.  In addition to fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, the Zomer lab provides plenty of opportunities for students to present their research at conferences, publish papers, obtain grants, and network within the scientific and industry community.

Visit the Lab: If possible, arrange a visit to the lab to meet with Dr. Zomer, lab members, and other faculty members. This will give you an opportunity to ask questions, tour the facilities, and get a firsthand experience of the lab's culture and environment.

If you are interested in working at the Zomer lab, please contact us at helenazomer@ufl.edu.

We are always actively searching for opportunities to expand our research and to increase the impact of our work. If you would like to help us through donations, awards, collaborations, etc, please contact us at helenazomer@ufl.edu.