Dr. Conboy’s areas of expertise and research focus are on the studies of aging and adult tissue repair. Specifically, she is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of stem cell aging that underlie the loss of the tissue regenerative capacity in the old. The main idea behind the work is that the damage to the differentiated tissues always increases, but the loss of organ function occurs only after the regenerative capacity of organ stem cells to repair such damage declines with age.

In addition, she is interested in identifying and characterizing the molecules that regulate behavior of adult stem cells and in understanding the age-related changes in such regulation. She is engaged in creating the molecular tools to manipulate the regenerative properties of organ stem cells in vivo and to enhance postnatal tissue repair, and in designing diagnostic techniques to measure success in tissue regeneration. BCSDP trainees would have access to all these areas of investigation.