Paul Benjamin Vrana is a research associate professor at the University of South Carolina. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1994. His research focuses on mammalian genetics, epigenetics, and developmental models using Peromyscus (deer mice). He has over 25 peer-reviewed publications and has supervised many graduate and undergraduate students.

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CURRICULUM VITAE
Paul Benjamin Vrana
e-mail: pbvrana@gmail.com, vranap@mailbox.sc.edu
Education
Columbia University, Department of Biological Sciences: Ph.D. 1990-1994
M.B.L., Woods Hole, MA. Embryology, 6 week lab course 1992
City University of New York: Department of Biology 1989-1990
Hampshire College: B.A.; major subject-biology 1985-1989
Phillips Academy, Andover MA 1980-1984
Professional Experience
2009-present: Research Associate Professor, Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center & Dept. Biological Sciences, University of
South Carolina
2001-2009: Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
1994-2001: Laboratory of Shirley Tilghman, Princeton University. Postdoctoral Fellow
Skills
Mammalian Genetics, Epigenetics (DNA methylation, dietary effects), Mammalian Disease Models, Mammalian
Development, Molecular Biology (cloning, gene expression, etc.), Behavioral Phenotyping
Peer-Reviewed Publications
1. Vrana, P.B. and W.C. Wheeler. 1992. Individuals as terminal entities: laying the species problem to
rest. Cladistics 8:67-72
2. Vrana, P.B., M.C. Milinkovitch, J.R. Powell, and W.C. Wheeler. 1994. Higher level relationships of
the arctoid carnivora based on sequence data and total evidence. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 3:47-
58
3. Vrana, P.B. and W.C. Wheeler. 1996. Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetic Utility of the Polyubiquitin Locus
in Mammals and Higher Vertebrates. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 6:259-269
4. Vrana, P.B. , X. J. Guan, R.S. Ingram and S.M. Tilghman. 1998. Genomic Imprinting is disrupted in
interspecific Peromyscus hybrids. Nature Genetics 20:362-365
5. O'Neill, M.J., R.S. Ingram, P.B. Vrana and S.M. Tilghman. 1999. Allelic expression of Igf2 in Marsupials and
Birds. Development, Genes & Evolution, 210:18-20
6. Vrana, P.B., J.A.Fossella, P.G. Matteson, M.J. O'Neill, and S.M. Tilghman. 2000. Genetic and Epigenetic
Incompatibilities Underlie Hybrid Dysgenesis in Peromyscus. Nature Genetics 25:120-124
7. Vrana, P.B., P. Matteson, J. V. Schmidt, R.S. Ingram, A. Joyce, K.L. Prince, M.J. Dewey, and S.M. Tilghman.
2001. Genomic Imprinting of a Placental Lactogen Gene in Peromyscus. Development, Genes & Evolution
210:18-20
8. Duselis, A.R., C.D. Wiley, M.J. O’Neill and P.B. Vrana. 2005. Genetic Evidence for a Maternal Effect Locus
Controlling Genomic Imprinting and Growth. Genesis 43:155-165
9. Vrana, P.B. 2007. Genomic Imprinting as a Mechanism of Reproductive Isolation in Mammals. Journal of
Mammalogy 88:5-23
10. Loschiavo, M., Q.K. Nguyen, A.R. Duselis, and P.B. Vrana. 2007. Mapping and Identification of Candidate
Loci Responsible for Peromyscus Hybrid Overgrowth. Mammalian Genome 18:75-85
11. Duselis, A.R. and P.B. Vrana. 2007. Assessment and Disease Comparisons of Hybrid Developmental Defects.
Human Molecular Genetics 16:808-819
12. Duselis A.R., C. Obergfell, J.A. Mack, M.J. O’Neill, Q.K. Nguyen, R.J. O’Neill, and P.B. Vrana. 2007. Cell-
Cycle and Extra-Cellular Matrix Gene Expression Changes During Deer Mouse (Peromyscus) Hybrid Placental
Development. Reproduction, Fertility and Development 19:695-708

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13. Pan, Z., S. Sikandar, M. Witherspoon, D. Dizon, T. Nguyen, K. Benirschke, C. Wiley, P. Vrana, and S.M.
Lipkin. 2008. Impaired Placental Trophoblast Lineage Differentiation in Alkbh1-/- mice. Developmental
Dynamics 237:316-327
14. Ramsdell C.M., A.A. Lewandowski, J.L.W. Glenn, P.B. Vrana, R.J. O'Neill, and M.J. Dewey. 2008.
Comparative Genome Mapping of the Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) Reveals Greater Similarity to Rat
(Rattus norvegicus) than to the Lab Mouse (Mus musculus). BMC Evolutionary Biology 8:65-78
15. Wiley, C.D., H. H. Matundan, A.R. Duselis, A.T. Isaacs, and P.B. Vrana. 2008. Patterns of Hybrid Loss of
Imprinting Reveal Tissue- and Cluster-Specific Regulation. PLoS One 3(10):e3572
16. Oriel, R.C., C.D. Wiley, M.J. Dewey, and P.B. Vrana. 2008. Adaptive Genetic Variation, Stress & Glucose
Regulation. Disease Models and Mechanisms 1:255-263
17. Duselis, A.R. and P.B. Vrana. 2010. Aberrant Growth and Pattern Formation in Peromyscus Hybrid Placental
Development. Biology of Reproduction 83:988-996
18. Wang, Q., J. Chow, J. Hong, A. Ferguson Smith, C. Moreno, P. Seaby, P. Vrana, K. Miri, J. Tak, E. Chung,
G. Mastromonaco, I. Cannigia and S. Varmuza. 2011. Recent acquisition of imprinting at the rodent Sfmbt2
locus correlates with insertion of a large block of miRNAs. BMC Genomics 12(1):204
19. Veres, M., A.R. Duselis, A. Graft, M.J. Dewey, J. Crossland, P.B. Vrana, and G. Szalai. 2012. The Biology and
Methodology of Assisted Reproduction in Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Theriogenology 77:311-319
20. Shorter, K.R., J.P. Crossland, D. Webb, G. Szalai, M.R. Felder, and P.B. Vrana. 2012. Peromyscus as a
Mammalian Epigenetic Model. Genetics Research International doi:10.1155/2012/179159
21. Vrana, P.B., K.R. Shorter, G. Szalai, M.R. Felder, J.P. Crossland, M. Veres, J. E. Allen, C.D. Wiley, A.R. Duselis, M.J. Dewey
and W.D. Dawson. 2014. Peromyscus (Deer Mice) as Developmental Models. WIREs Developmental Biology 3:211–230. doi:
10.1002/wdev.132
22. Kenney-Hunt, J., A.A. Lewandowski, T.C. Glenn, J. L. Glenn, O.V. Tsyusko, R.J. O’Neill, J. Brown, C.M. Ramsdell, Q.K.
Nguyen, T. Phan, K.S. Shorter, M.J. Dewey, G. Szalai, P.B. Vrana* and M.R. Felder. 2014. A Genetic Map of Peromyscus with
Chromosomal Assignment of Linkage Groups. Mammalian Genome 25:160-179 * co-corresponding author
23. Shorter, K.R., A. Owen, V. Anderson, A.C.H. South, S. Hayford, P. Cakora, J.P. Crossland, V.R.M. Georgi, A. Perkins, S.J.
Kelly, M.R. Felder, and P.B. Vrana. 2014. Natural Genetic Variation Underlying Differences in Peromyscus Repetitive &
Social/Aggressive Behaviors. Behavior Genetics 44:126-135
24. Weidmeyer, C.E., J.P. Crossland, M.J. Dewey, M.R. Felder, S.C. Barlow, P.B. Vrana, and G. Szalai. 2014. Comparative
Hematological and Serum Biochemical Values among Peromyscine Species and Their Hybrids. Journal of the American
Association for Laboratory Animal Science 53: 336-343
25. Crossland J.P., Dewey M.J., Barlow S.C., Vrana P.B., Felder M.R., and Szalai G.J. 2014. Caring for Peromyscus spp. in
Research Environments. Lab Animal 43:162-166
26. Shorter, K.R., V. Anderson, A. Owen, K. Lo, P. Cakora, J.P. Crossland, A. South, M.R. Felder, and P.B. Vrana. 2014.
Pleiotropic Effects of a Methyl-Donor Diet in Peromyscus (deer mice). PLoS One 9: e104942
27. Shorter, K.R., M.R. Felder, and P.B. Vrana. 2015. Consequences of Dietary Methyl Donor Supplements: Is More Always
Better? Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, in press
Publications Submitted & in Preparation
Shorter K.R., P. Cakora, J. Jacobs, A. South, V. Anderson, S.A. Johnson, A. Javurek, M. Painter, M. Ellersieck, C.S. Rosenfeld, M.R.
Felder, and P.B. Vrana. A High Methyl Donor Diet Has Differential Effects on Behavior in Two Interfertile Peromyscus Species.
In prep
Duselis, A.R. and P.B. Vrana. Aberrant Stem Cell Regulation & Differentiation in Hybrid Extra-Embryonic Development. In prep
P.B. Vrana, K.R. Shorter, K. Dave, M.R. Felder. Genetics of Peromyscus Hybrid Post-Natal Growth. In prep
Wiley, C.D., K.R. Shorter, J. Kenagy, and P.B. Vrana. Rapid Evolution of Differentially Methylated Regions in Peromyscus. In prep

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Vrana, P.B., M. Nagarkatti. Effects of Resveratrol on DNA Methylation at Four Loci in MDSCs. In prep
Other Publications & Written Work
Vrana, P.B. Assays to determine allelic usage of gene expression in the placenta. in Placental and Trophoblast
Methods and Protocols. M.J. Soares and J.S.Hunt (eds), Humana Press, New Jersey, 2006.
Duselis, A.R., and P.B. Vrana. 2007. Harvesting sperm and artificial insemination of mice. Journal of Visualized Experiments
(Jove.com), issue 3.
Duselis, A.R., and P.B. Vrana. 2007. Retrieval of mouse oocytes. Journal of Visualized Experiments, issue 3
Duselis, A., M. Veres, M. Dewey and P. Vrana. 2011. Artificial Insemination of the Rodent Peromyscus (deer mice) in Mouse
Manual, 4th edition (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press), in press
Vrana, P.B. 2011-2013 Peromyscus Genetic Stock Center blog (http://www.cas.sc.edu/pgsc/)
Teaching
Fundamental Genetics, Human Molecular Genetics, Medical Biochemistry (proteins), Medical Biochemistry (nucleic acids):
Developmental Genetics, Advanced Mouse Genetics, Chromatin Structure & Function, Stem Cell Biology, Non-Mendelian Genetics &
Human Disease
Students Supervised
Graduate Students (as Major Professor) – 5, Graduate Students (rotation) – 8, Undergraduates – 16.
Invited Seminars
Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik, Berlin, Germany, November 1997
Dept of Biology, Washington Univ in St Louis, March 1999
Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual Meeting, Wash St. Univ, June 1999
School of Medicine, Univ Hawaii at Manoa, November 1999
Dept Genetics, Univ Wisconsin, February 2000
Dept Population Health & Reproduction, Veterinary School, UC Davis, March 2000
Dept Human Genetics, Univ Chicago, April 2000
Dept Organismal & Evol Biology, Harvard Univ, October 2000
Rockefeller Univ, February 2001
Dept Chemistry & Biochemistry, Villanova Univ, February 2001
Dept Biochemistry, Drexel Univ School Medicine, March 2001
Dept Human Genetics, Univ Michigan, April 2001
Univ Medicine & Dentistry New Jersey, May 2001
Dept Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, UC Irvine, November 2001
Dept Biology, University of Nevada Reno, May 2002
Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope Medical Center, September 2003
Dept Ecology and Evolution, UC Irvine, October 2003
American Society of Mammalogists Annual Meeting, SW Missouri St. Univ, June 2005
Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, November 2006
Dept Biological Sciences, Univ South Carolina, November 2006
EMBO Workshop on Genomic Imprinting, Temasek Life Science Laboratory, Singapore, September 2008
Dept Biological Sciences, Univ Northern Colorado, April 2009
Dept Biological Sciences, North Dakota State Univ, May 2009
NAIST Symposium on Plasticity in Development and Evolution, Nara, Japan, November 2010
Dept Cell & Systems Biology, Univ Toronto, March 2011
South Carolina College of Pharmacy, March 2012
Univ S Carolina School of Medicine, Dept. Pharm/Phys/Neuro, May 2012
Univ S Carolina, Dept. Exercise Science, Oct 2012
Univ S Carolina Med School Greenville, Dept Basic Sciences, Nov 2012
Univ Missouri, Multiple Depts/Centers, May 2013
Complementary Alternative Medicine Center, Univ S Carolina, March 2014
Other Presentations (Speaker and/or Poster Presentations)
American Society of Mammalogists, June 1988; Clemson Univ – speaker
Willi Hennig Society, June 1991; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto – speaker
New England Molecular Evolutionary Biologists, March 1992, Yale Univ – speaker

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Society for the Study of Evolution, June 1993; Snowbird, Utah – poster
Cell Biology Meeting, December 1996; San Francisco, CA – poster
Mouse Molecular Genetics, October 1997; EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany – speaker
International Genomic Imprinting Workshop, November 1997; Cambridge, UK – speaker
Society for Study of Development, June 1998; Stanford Univ – poster
International Federation of Placenta Associations, September 2004; Asilomar, CA – speaker
CalPEG (California Population & Evolutionary Genetics); December 2004; La Jolla, CA – speaker
MRC Harwell Genomic Imprinting Conference, April 2005; Oxford, UK – poster
Mouse Molecular Genetics, September 2006; Cold Spring Harbor, NY – posters
International Mammalian Genome Society, November 2006; Charleston, SC – poster
International Genomic Imprinting Workshop, November 2006; Tokyo, Japan – speaker, poster
Epigenetics Keystone Symposium, April 2007; Breckenridge, CO – poster
American Society of Mammalogists, June 2007; Univ New Mexico – posters
Mouse Molecular Genetics, September 2010; Cold Spring Harbor, NY – speaker
American Society of Mammalogists, June 2011; Portland St Univ – poster
Society Integrative & Comparative Bio, Jan 2012; Charleston, SC – speaker, posters
Environmental Epigenetics: New Frontiers in Autism Research, March 2013; Sacramento, CA – poster
Epigenetics Keystone Symposium, April 2014; Boston, MA – posters
Reviewing Service
Grant proposals (Organizations):
NSF (Ad hoc), NIH (Panel on Epigenetics & Addiction March 2006, Stimulus Funding 2009), Czech Academy of Sciences.
Manuscripts (Journals):
Acta Physiologica Animal Reproduction Science Behaviour Biology Letters
Biology of Reproduction Birth Defects Res A: BMC Genetics BMC Genomics
Briefings Funct Genomics Cell & Molec Life Sci Develop Biol Gene
Genesis Genetics Genetics Research Genome
Genome Research Genomics Heredity Human Molec Genet
J Evol Biol J Mammalogy Mammalian Genome Mol Bio & Evol
Neuroscience Physiological Genomics PLoS Genetics PLoS ONE
PNAS Reproduction Repro, Fertility & Dev Science
Trends in Genetics