Serra Akbas Kaya, PhD

Title(s)Assistant Researcher, Orthopaedic Surgery
SchoolSchool of Medicine
Address1700 4th Street, #923A
San Francisco CA 94158
Phone415-502-6523
ORCID ORCID Icon0000-0002-4979-3705 Additional info
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    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse Awards and Honors
    Bone Reports2023Best Invited Content/Special Issue Article
    UCSF2022Best Postdoctoral Scholar Poster at the CCMBM Retreat
    Gordon Conference2022Family Care Travel Award
    UCSF2021  - 2022HIVE Postdoctoral Fellowship
    UCSF2020Best Postdoctoral Scholar Poster at the CCMBM Retreat

    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse Overview
    I combine my bone biomechanics and genetics expertise with computational methods to improve bone quality and advance the diagnostics and therapies for human bone fragility and joint diseases. In my postdoctoral research with my PI, Dr. Alliston and co-PI, Dr. Evans, we established a novel mouse to human (M2H) strategy that prioritizes analysis of aging mouse genes based on their potential clinical relevance to human cohorts using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and generated a computational resource: www.mouse2human.org. The mouse2human strategy using mouse RNAseq and human GWAS to prioritize novel candidate genes has proven powerful and can be applicable to different projects. My research interest in aging and human osteoarthritis had also led her to perform mouse2human on aging mouse RNAseq and published human hip and knee osteoarthritis GWAS data from UK Biobank and arcOGEN. This work prioritized an unbiased selection of <1% genes, including MEPE, among ~ 5000 DEGs in aging mouse bone based on human osteoarthritis associations. I also received a HIVE Emerging Postdoctoral Fellowship from UCSF in 2021 to investigate the osteocyte driven regulators of osteoarthritis (OA) with targeting bone shape changes in human knee and utilizing machine learning algorithms in the MRI images of knee with her mentors Dr. Alliston and Dr. Pedoia. With my scientific expertise and unique combination of skills, including working with mouse models, utilizing molecular and histologic methods, and applying computational biology, I am suited to make significant contributions to this project.

    Collapse Research 
    Collapse Research Activities and Funding
    Joint Shape Change as a Target for Understanding, Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment of Osteoarthritis
    DOD US Army Med. Res. Acq. Activity PR221675Aug 15, 2023 - Aug 14, 2027
    Role: Co-Investigator
    Description: The overall goals are to improve the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis by uncovering osteocyte-dependent mechanisms responsible for clinically relevant changes in knee shape by using a novel approach to find genetic correlates of artificial intelligence-identified MRI features implicated in early-stage knee arthritis.

    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse Publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Researchers can login to make corrections and additions, or contact us for help. to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    Altmetrics Details PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Skeletal pathology in mouse models of Gould syndrome is partially alleviated by genetically reducing TGFβ signaling. Matrix Biol. 2024 Nov; 133:1-13. Labelle-Dumais C, Mazur C, Kaya S, Obata Y, Lee B, Acevedo C, Alliston T, Gould DB. PMID: 39097038.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    2. The osteocytic actions of glucocorticoids on bone mass, mechanical properties, or perilacunar remodeling outcomes are not rescued by PTH(1-34). Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024; 15:1342938. Yee CS, Meliadis C, Kaya S, Chang W, Alliston T. PMID: 39092287; PMCID: PMC11291448.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    3. High-fat and high-carbohydrate diets increase bone fragility through TGF-β-dependent control of osteocyte function. JCI Insight. 2024 Jul 09; 9(16). Dole NS, Betancourt-Torres A, Kaya S, Obata Y, Schurman CA, Yoon J, Yee CS, Khanal V, Luna CA, Carroll M, Salinas JJ, Miclau E, Acevedo C, Alliston T. PMID: 39171528; PMCID: PMC11343608.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    4. Effect of Passaging on Bovine Chondrocyte Gene Expression and Engineered Cartilage Production. Tissue Eng Part A. 2024 Sep; 30(17-18):512-524. Lindberg ED, Kaya S, Jamali AA, Alliston T, O'Connell GD. PMID: 38323585.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    5. Aging impairs the osteocytic regulation of collagen integrity and bone quality. Bone Res. 2024 02 26; 12(1):13. Schurman CA, Kaya S, Dole N, Luna NMM, Castillo N, Potter R, Rose JP, Bons J, King CD, Burton JB, Schilling B, Melov S, Tang S, Schaible E, Alliston T. PMID: 38409111; PMCID: PMC10897167.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    6. Genetic and Gene Expression Resources for Osteoporosis and Bone Biology Research. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2023 12; 21(6):637-649. Kaya S, Alliston T, Evans DS. PMID: 37831357; PMCID: PMC11098148.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    7. miR181a/b-1 controls osteocyte metabolism and mechanical properties independently of bone morphology. Bone. 2023 10; 175:116836. Yoon J, Kaya S, Matsumae G, Dole N, Alliston T. PMID: 37414200; PMCID: PMC11156520.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    8. Bone-cartilage crosstalk informed by aging mouse bone transcriptomics and human osteoarthritis genome-wide association studies. Bone Rep. 2023 Jun; 18:101647. Kaya S, Bailey KN, Schurman CA, Evans DS, Alliston T. PMID: 36636109; PMCID: PMC9830153.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 1  
    9. Prioritization of Genes Relevant to Bone Fragility Through the Unbiased Integration of Aging Mouse Bone Transcriptomics and Human GWAS Analyses. J Bone Miner Res. 2022 04; 37(4):804-817. Kaya S, Schurman CA, Dole NS, Evans DS, Alliston T. PMID: 35094432; PMCID: PMC9018503.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 8     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    10. Mechanosensitive miR-100 coordinates TGFβ and Wnt signaling in osteocytes during fluid shear stress. FASEB J. 2021 10; 35(10):e21883. Dole NS, Yoon J, Monteiro DA, Yang J, Mazur CM, Kaya S, Belair CD, Alliston T. PMID: 34569659; PMCID: PMC9153140.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 7     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    11. Fluid shear stress generates a unique signaling response by activating multiple TGFβ family type I receptors in osteocytes. FASEB J. 2021 03; 35(3):e21263. Monteiro DA, Dole NS, Campos JL, Kaya S, Schurman CA, Belair CD, Alliston T. PMID: 33570811; PMCID: PMC7888383.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 11     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    12. Osteocyte dysfunction promotes osteoarthritis through MMP13-dependent suppression of subchondral bone homeostasis. Bone Res. 2019; 7:34. Mazur CM, Woo JJ, Yee CS, Fields AJ, Acevedo C, Bailey KN, Kaya S, Fowler TW, Lotz JC, Dang A, Kuo AC, Vail TP, Alliston T. PMID: 31700695; PMCID: PMC6828661.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 50     Fields:    
    13. Lactation-Induced Changes in the Volume of Osteocyte Lacunar-Canalicular Space Alter Mechanical Properties in Cortical Bone Tissue. J Bone Miner Res. 2017 04; 32(4):688-697. Kaya S, Basta-Pljakic J, Seref-Ferlengez Z, Majeska RJ, Cardoso L, Bromage TG, Zhang Q, Flach CR, Mendelsohn R, Yakar S, Fritton SP, Schaffler MB. PMID: 27859586; PMCID: PMC5395324.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 52     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
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