Diane Downhour

Sr Research Specialist & Lab Manager

Diane grew up in Pennsylvania Amish country and moved west to attend college. After obtaining a B.S. in Biology, she fell in love with the mountains and red rocks of Utah and decided to make Salt Lake City her permanent home.

Diane has worked research at the U of U for many years, initially studying the role of growth factors in neuronal plasticity/degeneration and exploring cell adhesion. Diane became interested molecular biology and transitioned to working the laboratory of Wayne Border & Nancy Noble, investigating the pathogenesis of transforming growth factor beta and extra cellular matrix deposition in glomerulonephritis. More recently, Diane worked as an HHMI associate in the lab of Alejandro Sanchez studying the molecular basis of regeneration in the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Since joining Elde Lab, Diane has worked to identify and investigate the role of retrotransposed copies of ESCRT genes in mammalian genomes.

Diane is a huge fan of living in Utah and enjoys mountain biking, hiking, camping, and the outdoors with her family.