Amy Merrill-Brugger, Ph.D.

Amy Merrill-Brugger

Associate Professor
Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC

Associate Professor
Keck School of Medicine of USC

2250 Alcazar St.
CSA 141 – HSC 9062
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Phone: (323) 442-1147
Fax: (323) 442-2981
amerrill@usc.edu
Lab website:
merrill.usc.edu

Education
Experience
Awards
Research
Publications

University of California, Santa Barbara
B.S., 1997
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

University of Southern California
Ph.D., 2005
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

  • 2021 – present – Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences – Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2018 – present – Associate Professor – Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2018 – present – Associate Professor – Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2010 – 2018 – Assistant Professor – Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2010 – 2018 – Assistant Professor – Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2009 – 2010 – Post-Doctoral Fellow – Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2007 – 2009 – Post-Doctoral Fellow – Medical Genetics, Cedars Sinai Medical Center
  • 2005 – 2007 – Post-Doctoral Fellow – Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA
  • 1998 – 2005 – Doctoral Candidate – Department of Biochemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1997 – 1998 – Research Assistant – Department of Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 1996 – 1997 – Student Researcher – Department of Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 2019 – Marylou Buyse Excellence in Craniofacial Research Award, Society for Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology
  • 2018-2020 – Gordon Research Conference, FGFs in Development & Disease, 2020 Vice Chair & 2022 Chair
  • 2015 – Gordon Research Conference Travel Award, Cartilage Biology and Pathology
  • 2015 – Gene Discovery and Translational Research Grant, March of Dimes Foundation
  • 2013 – American Association of Anatomists Young Faculty Travel Award
  • 2012-2014 – Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes
  • 2011 – Zumberge Research Grant, USC Zumberge Faculty Research & Innovation Fund
  • 2011 – Research Seed Grant, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, USC Faculty Research Fund
  • 2010 – Postdoctoral Trainee Research Award, American Society of Human Genetics
  • 2010 – Research Seed Grant, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, USC Faculty Research Fund
  • 2009-2010 – NIH K30 Translational Investigation Training Fellowship, UCLA
  • 2009 – Postdoctoral Trainee Research Award, American Society of Human Genetics
  • 2008 – Sports Spectacular Fellowship, Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular Endowment
  • 2007-2009 – Medical Genetics Fellowship, UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Intercampus Training Program
  • 2007 – Association for the Advancement of Science Sponsored Member, Science Magazine
  • 2006 – Postdoctoral Poster Winner, School of Dentistry Research Day, University of California, San Francisco
  • 2005-2007 – Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIDCR Comprehensive Oral Health Research Training Grant, UCSF
  • 2005-2007 – Society for Developmental Biology Member
  • 2004 – Invited guest student speaker, Mouse Molecular Genetics Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
  • 2000-2001 – American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship (Ref#001004Y)
  • 1997 – Distinction in the Major, Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 1997 – Society of Technical Communication Writing Award
  • 1996-1997 – Honors Programs, Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Regulating Skeletal Connectivity in Craniofacial Development and Disease – Grant# 1 R35 DE034346-01

  • Principal Investigator: Amy Merrill, Ph.D.
  • Sponsor: NIH
  • Period: 09/19/2024-06/30/2032
  • Goal: The scope of the proposed study is comprehensive and forward-thinking, as it investigates the craniofacial skeleton as a multi-tissue system, addressing critical gaps in our understanding of craniofacial connective tissue development and maintenance in four complementary research programs.

Role of LGR+ connective tissue progenitors in TMJ development – Grant # R01 DE033893

  • Principal Investigator: Crump, Merrill – multi-PI
  • Sponsor: NIH
  • Period: 07/15/2024-04/30/2029
  • Goal: Disorders of the temporomandibular joint of the jaw are a common source of chronic pain. This proposal uses complementary zebrafish and mouse models to investigate the role of LGRs, which potentiate Wnt signaling, in maintaining and controlling differentiation of stem cells that give rise to diverse jaw joint connective tissues. Knowledge gained from these studies will inform future studies aimed at repairing and restoring damaged connective tissues in temporomandibular joint disease.

Fgf signaling in patterning of the calvarial joints – Grant # 2 R01 DE025222

  • Principal Investigator: Amy Merrill, Ph.D.
  • Sponsor: NIH
  • Period: 07/01/2023-06/30/2028
  • Goal: This study is expected to show that CT fibroblasts are signaling centers that direct calvarial joint development and underlie region-specific fusion patterns in congenital skull deformities.

Developmental regulation of tendon-bone connectivity in the jaw – Grant #5 R01 DE029850

  • Principal Investigator: Amy Merrill-Brugger, Ph.D.
  • Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
  • Period: 06/08/2021-05/31/2026
  • Goal: The major goal of this project is to identify the fundamental steps that regulate development of tendon-bone attachments in the mammalian jaw.

  1. Devine J, Vidal-García M, Liu W, Neves A, Lo Vercio LD, Green RM, Richbourg HA, Marchini M, Unger CM, Nickle AC, Radford B, Young NM, Gonzalez PN, Schuler RE, Bugacov A, Rolian C, Percival CJ, Williams T, Niswander L, Calof AL, Lander AD, Visel A, Jirik FR, Cheverud JM, Klein OD, Birnbaum RY, Merrill AE, Ackermann RR, Graf D, Hemberger M, Dean W, Forkert ND, Murray SA, Westerberg H, Marcucio RS, Hallgrímsson B. (2022) MusMorph, a database of standardized mouse morphology data for morphometric meta-analyses. Sci Data. 2022 May 25;9(1):230. doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01338-x. PMID: 35614082; PMCID: PMC9133120.

  2. Brugmann, S.A., Merrill, A. E., Saint-Jeannet, J.-P, Stottmann, R. W., & Clouthier, D. E. (2022) The Society for Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology 44th Annual Meeting. American Journal of Medical Genetics. 188(7):2258-2266. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.62731.

  3. Farmer DT, Mlcochova H, Zhou Y, Koelling N, Wang G, Ashley N, Bugacov H, Chen HJ, Parvez R, Tseng KC, Merrill AE, Maxson RE Jr, Wilkie AOM, Crump JG, Twigg SRF. (2021) The developing mouse coronal suture at single-cell resolution. Nat Commun. 2021 Aug 10;12(1):4797. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24917-9. PMID: 34376651; PMCID:PMC8355337.

  4. Bobzin L, Roberts RR, Chen HJ, Crump JG, Merrill AE. (2021) Development and maintenance of tendons and ligaments. Development. 2021 Apr 15;148(8):dev186916. doi: 10.1242/dev.186916. Epub 2021 Apr 16. PMID: 33913478; PMCID: PMC8077520.

  5. Roberts RR, Bobzin L, Teng CS, Pal D, Tuzon CT, Schweitzer R, Merrill AE. (2019) FGF signaling patterns cell fate at the interface between tendon and bone. Development. 2019 Aug 2;146(15). pii: dev170241. doi: 10.1242/dev.170241. PubMed PMID: 31320326; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6703712.

  6. Tuzon CT, Rigueur D, Merrill AE. (2019) Nuclear Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Signaling in Skeletal Development and Disease. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2019 Jun;17(3):138-146. doi: 10.1007/s11914-019-00512-2. PMID: 30982184; PMCID:PMC8221190.

  7. Salva JE, Roberts RR, Stucky TS, Merrill AE. (2019) Nuclear FGFR2 regulates musculoskeletal integration within the developing limb. Dev Dyn. 2019 Mar;248(3):233-246. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.9. Epub 2019 Jan 28. PubMed PMID: 30620790; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6474847.

  8. Rigueur D, Roberts RR, Bobzin L, Merrill AE. (2019) A requirement for Fgfr2 in middle ear development. Genesis. 2019 Jan;57(1):e23252. doi: 10.1002/dvg.23252. Epub 2018 Oct 4. PubMed PMID: 30253032; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6349551.

  9. Watt KEN, Neben CL, Hall S, Merrill AE, Trainor PA. (2018) tp53-dependent and independent signaling underlies the pathogenesis and possible prevention of Acrofacial Dysostosis – Cincinnati type. Hum Mol Genet. 2018 Aug 1;27(15):2628-2643. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddy172. PubMed PMID: 29750247; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6927876.

  10. Gou Y, Li J, Wu J, Gupta R, Cho I, Ho TV, Chai Y, Merrill A, Wang J, Xu J. (2018) Prmt1 regulates craniofacial bone formation upstream of Msx1. Mech Dev. 2018 Aug;152:13-20. doi: 10.1016/j.mod.2018.05.001. Epub 2018 May 1. PubMed PMID: 29727702.

  11. Neben CL, Tuzon CT, Mao X, Lay FD, Merrill AE. (2017) FGFR2 Mutations in Bent Bone Dysplasia Syndrome Activate Nucleolar Stress and Perturb Cell Fate Determination. Hum Mol Genet. 2017 Sep 1;26(17):3253-3270. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddx209. PubMed PMID:28595297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5886181.

  12. Salva JE, Merrill AE. (2017) Signaling networks in joint development. Dev Dyn. 2017 Apr;246(4):262-274. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.24472. Epub 2016 Dec 29. Review. PubMed PMID: 27859991; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5354978.

  13. Neben CL, Lay FD, Mao X, Tuzon CT, Merrill AE. (2017) Ribosome biogenesis is dynamically regulated during osteoblast differentiation. Gene. 2017 May 15;612:29-35. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2016.11.010. Epub 2016 Nov 12. PubMed PMID: 27847259; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5382099.

  14. Neben CL, Roberts RR, Dipple KM, Merrill AE, Klein OD. (2016) Modeling craniofacial and skeletal congenital birth defects to advance therapies. Hum Mol Genet. 2016 Oct 1;25(R2):R86-R93. Review. PubMed PMID: 27346519; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5036869.

  15. Krakow D, Cohn DH, Wilcox WR, Noh GJ, Raffel LJ, Sarukhanov A, Ivanova MH, Danielpour M, Grange DK, Elliott AM, Bernstein JA, Rimoin DL, Merrill AE, Lachman RS. (2016) Clinical and radiographic delineation of Bent Bone Dysplasia-FGFR2 type or Bent Bone Dysplasia with Distinctive Clavicles and Angel-shaped Phalanges. Am J Med Genet A. 2016 Oct;170(10):2652-61. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.37772. Epub 2016 May 30. PubMed PMID: 27240702; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5538138.

  16. Noack Watt KE, Achilleos A, Neben CL, Merrill AE, Trainor PA. (2016) The Roles of RNA Polymerase I and III Subunits Polr1c and Polr1d in Craniofacial Development and in Zebrafish Models of Treacher Collins Syndrome. PLoS Genet. 2016 Jul 22;12(7):e1006187. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006187. PubMed PMID: 27448281; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4957770.

  17. Zieba J, Forlenza KN, Khatra JS, Sarukhanov A, Duran I, Rigueur D, Lyons KM, Cohn DH, Merrill AE, Krakow D. (2016) TGFβ and BMP Dependent Cell Fate Changes Due to Loss of Filamin B Produces Disc Degeneration and Progressive Vertebral Fusions. PLoS Genet. 2016 Mar 28;12(3):e1005936. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005936. eCollection 2016 Mar. PubMed PMID: 27019229; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4809497.

  18. Neben CL, Merrill AE. (2015) Signaling Pathways in Craniofacial Development: Insights from Rare Skeletal Disorders. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2015;115:493-542. doi: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2015.09.005. Review. PubMed PMID: 26589936.

  19. Neben CL, Idoni B, Salva JE, Tuzon CT, Rice JC, Krakow D, Merrill AE. (2014) Bent bone dysplasia syndrome reveals nucleolar activity for FGFR2 in ribosomal DNA transcription. Hum Mol Genet. 2014 Nov 1;23(21):5659-71. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddu282. Epub 2014 Jun 6. PubMed PMID: 24908667; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4189901.

  20. Trainor PA, Merrill AE. (2014) Ribosome biogenesis in skeletal development and the pathogenesis of skeletal disorders. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014 Jun;1842(6):769-78. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2013.11.010. Epub 2013 Nov 16. Review. PubMed PMID: 24252615; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4020712.

  21. Merrill AE, Sarukhanov A, Krejci P, Idoni B, Camacho N, Estrada KD, Lyons KM, Deixler H, Robinson H, Chitayat D, Curry CJ, Lachman RS, Wilcox WR, Krakow D. (2012) Bent Bone Dysplasia-FGFR2 type, a Distinct Skeletal Disorder, Has Deficient Canonical FGF Signaling. Am J Hum Genet. 2012 Mar 9;90(3):550-557. Epub 2012 Mar 1. PubMed PMID: 22387015; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3309195.

  22. Alanay Y, Avaygan H, Camacho N, Utine GE, Boduroglu K, Aktas D, Alikasifoglu M, Tuncbilek E, Orhan D, Bakar FT, Zabel B, Superti-Furga A, Bruckner-Tuderman L, Curry CJ, Byers PH, Eyre DR, Baldridge D, Lee BH, Merrill AE, Cohn DH, Akarsu N, Krakow D. (2010) Mutations in the gene encoding the RER chaperone FKBP65 produce autosomal recessive osteogenesis imperfecta. Am J Hum Genet. 2010 Apr 9;86(4):551-9. Epub 2010 Apr 1. PubMed PMID: 20362275; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2850430.

  23. Merrill AE, Merriman B, Farrington-Rock C, Camacho N, Sebald ET, Funari VA, Shibler MJ, Firestein MH, Cohn ZA, Priore MA, Thompson AK, Rimioin DL, Nelson SF, Cohn DH, Krakow D. (2009) Ciliary abnormalities due to defects in the retrograde transport protein DYNC2H1 in short rib-polydactyly syndrome. Am J Hum Genet. 2009 Apr;84(4):542-9. PubMed PMID: 19361615; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2667993.

  24. Merrill AE, Eames BF, Weston SJ, Heath T, Schneider RA. (2008) Mesenchyme-dependent Bmp signaling directs the timing of mandibular osteogenesis. Development. 2008 Apr;135(7):1223-34. Epub 2008 Feb 20. PubMed PMID: 18287200; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2844338.

  25. Merrill AE, Bochukova EG, Brugger SM, Ishii M, Pilz DT, Wall SA, Lyons KM, Wilkie AO, Maxson RE Jr. (2006) Cell mixing at a neural crest-mesoderm boundary and deficient ephrin-Eph signaling in the pathogenesis of craniosynostosis. Hum Mol Genet. 2006 Apr 15;15(8):1319-28. Epub 2006 Mar 15. PubMed PMID: 16540516.

  26. Brugger SM, Merrill AE, Torres-Vazquez J, Wu N, Ting MC, Cho JY, Dobias SL, Yi SE, Lyons K, Bell JR, Arora K, Warrior R, Maxson R. (2004) A phylogenetically conserved cis-regulatory module in the Msx2 promoter is sufficient for BMP-dependent transcription in murine and Drosophila embryos. Development. 2004 Oct;131(20):5153-65.

  27. Ishii M, Merrill AE, Chan YS, Gitelman I, Rice DP, Sucov HM, Maxson RE Jr. (2003) Msx2 and Twist cooperatively control the development of the neural crest-derived skeletogenic mesenchyme of the murine skull vault. Development. 2003 Dec;130(24):6131-42.

  28. Maxson RE, Ishii M, Merrill AE. (2003) Msx genes in organogenesis and human disease. Advances in Developmental Biology and Biochemistry 13:43-68.

  29. Kwang SJ, Brugger SM, Lazik A, Merrill AE, Wu LY, Liu YH, Ishii M, Sangiorgi FO, Rauchman M, Sucov HM, Maas RL, Maxson RE Jr. (2002) Msx2 is an immediate downstream effector of Pax3 in the development of the murine cardiac neural crest. Development. 2002 Jan;129(2):527-38.