Rachelle H. Crosbie, Ph.D.

  • Professor and Chair, Integrative Biology and Physiology
RCrosbie@physci.ucla.edu
  • Professor, Neurology
  • Education Liaison, Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA
Research Areas
Lab Website
Publications
A woman smiles into the camera while standing outdoors.

Rachelle H. Crosbie, Ph.D., is a muscle biochemist and physiologist focused on rare pediatric diseases — such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy — that primarily affect skeletal and cardiac muscles. Through her study of specific protein complexes in the muscles, Crosbie hopes to identify new treatments, including drug and gene therapies, for muscular dystrophies.

Crosbie collaborates with scientists and clinicians in academia and industry to rationally design small molecule drugs for muscular dystrophies and associated cardiomyopathies. She has developed a pipeline for advancing basic scientific discoveries to drug development.

Crosbie possesses expertise in cell-matrix interactions. Loss of the cell-matrix connection causes  fibrosis and is common to many diseases. Crosbie has identified mechanisms that restore cell-matrix interactions, prevent muscle disease and promote a healthy cellular environment. She has identified changes in the extracellular matrix during fibrosis that impair stem cell function in muscle. The pathological features of fibrosis are a major barrier to stem cell therapies for muscular dystrophies. 

She is also dedicated to advancing STEM education through inclusive online learning communities and by bringing students into the real-world challenges of muscular dystrophy.

  • Identifying environmental barriers that impair stem cell-matrix interactions
  • Targeting these barriers to develop effective stem cell therapies for muscular dystrophies 
  • Identifying environmental factors that comprise an adaptive fibrotic response
  • Advancing existing pipeline for drug development targeting cell-matrix interactions
  • Developing acellular extracellular matrix scaffolds as a disease model
Education

Post-doctoral fellowship

  • Physiology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 1999

Degree

  • Ph.D., Biochemistry, UCLA, 1994