Staff Directory

Home
>
About Us
>
Staff
>
James Godwin

Title:	Dr
First Name:	James
Surname:	Godwin
Position:	Senior Research Fellow
Group:	Rosenthal
Phone No:	+61 3 9902 9644
Email Address:	james.godwin@monash.edu

Research Interests:	Salamanders are unique in that they can regenerate a vast number of clinically relevant body structures as an adult, including their limbs, tails, jaws, sections of the heart, ocular tissues, and parts of the brain and spinal cord. Unlike humans, they are resistant to scarring and the way their immune system deals with injury favours a regenerative program that faithfully replaces the damaged tissues, rather than employ the inflammation, fibrosis and scarring that usually occurs in mammals. We are interested in the molecular events during the wounding response in salamanders (Axlolots) and aim to uncover the molecular switches that can direct mammalian wound healing down a more regenerative (“scarless”) pathway. Salamander transgenic technology and genomic tools have only recently become available, meaning that for the first time we are presented with a unique opportunity to tackle the important regeneration questions with modern scientific tools in a wide range of important clinically relevant contexts.
Biography:	Dr James Godwin is an independent research fellow in the Rosenthal Group and a recipient of the 2008 Newcomb Cleveland Prize for his work on the molecular basis of nerve dependence in salamander regeneration. His last appointment was at University College in London (UCL) as a research fellow in the Laboratory of Jeremy Brockes where he spent 5 years investigating the mechanisms of salamander regeneration. His PhD was obtained at Melbourne University in the Immunology Research Centre based at St Vincent’s Hospital. This work examined cross species immune mechanisms and focussed on molecules aimed at limiting immune rejection. His current research program looks at the immunological pathways in amphibians (Axolotls) that promote regeneration and limit the scarring response. His research is focused on finding the immunological molecules capable of extending the regenerative capacity in mammals using both molecular and transgenic technologies.
Selected Publications:	Anoop Kumar* and James W. Godwin,. “Preparation and culture of limb blastema stem cells from regenerating larval and adult salamanders” CSH Protocols.* Accepted- Sept 2009 (In Press). PMID: 20150126 James W. Godwin1, Anoop Kumar 1 Phillip B. Gates,1 A. Acely Garza-Garcia,2 Jeremy P. Brockes. “Molecular basis for the nerve dependence of limb regeneration in an adult vertebrate.” Science: 2007 November 2;318(5851):772-7. PMID:17975060 * Equal first author James W. Godwin and Jeremy P. Brockes. REVIEW: Regeneration, tissue injury and the immune response. Journal of Anatomy (2006): 209 (4), 423–432. PMID:17005015 James W. Godwin, Nella Fisicaro, Anthony J. F. d'Apice, Peter J. Cowan “Towards endothelial cell-specific transgene expression in pigs: characterization of the pig ICAM-2 promoter” Xenotransplantation (2006) 13 (6), 514–521. PMID: 17059578 Godwin JW Cowan PJ, D'apice AJ. “Characterization of Pig Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-2 and its Interaction with Human LFA-1” American Journal of Transplantation (2004) 4 (4), 515–525. PMID: 15023143 Cowan PJ, Shinkel TA, Fisicaro N, Godwin JW, Bernabeu C, Almendro N, Rius C, Lonie AJ, Nottle MB, Wigley PL, Paizis K, Pearse MJ, D'apice AJ.“Targeting gene expression to endothelium in transgenic animals: a comparison of the human ICAM-2, PECAM-1 and endoglin promoters.” Xenotransplantation (2003) May; 10(3):223-231 PMID: 12694542 J. Godwin, J. H. Lee, P. J. Cowan, A. J. F. D’Apice, C. Moran. “ICAM-2 maps to porcine chromosome 12.” Animal Genetics, (2000), 31:404-419 PMID: 11167528
Other Info: