Robert Akins, PhD

Center Director/Principal Research Scientist

Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware 1600 Rockland Road Wilmington, DE 19803

Biography

Robert E. Akins, Jr., PhD, FAACPDM, FAHA is a Principal Scientist, Director of the Center for Pediatric Clinical Research and Development, and Head of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Research at the Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware. He holds multiple leadership roles in research, mentoring, and faculty development programs in the state, and he is a full professor affiliated with the departments of Materials Science & Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Biological Sciences at the University of Delaware. He joined Nemours in 1992. Dr. Akins received both his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an inaugural fellow of the American Heart Association and a Fellow of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Research in the highly collaborative Akins group focuses on regenerative medicine and precision therapeutics for children requiring major surgery due to congenital conditions. The group has a particular emphasis on stem-cell and biomaterials-based approaches that can be individually-tuned for therapeutic use and on developing computational models for the diagnosis and prognosis of complex disease in newborns. His work has been generously supported by the Nemours Foundation, the American Heart Association, NASA's Biotechnology and Cell Science Program, the Swank Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (OD, NHLBI, NICHD, NCRR, and NIGMS), the State of Delaware, and the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine / Pedal with Pete Foundation.

Medical/Dental School

  • BA - University of Pennsylvania, Biochemistry, 1984
  • PhD - University of Pennsylvania, Cell and Molecular Biology, 1992

  • Factors Associated with Antihypertensive Therapy Prescription in Youth Delaware Medicaid Recipients with Primary Hypertension Diagnosis; American Journal of Hypertension; (2024).

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  • Screening for Spastic Cerebral Palsy Using Computational Analysis of DNA Methylation Patterns; Unknown Source; (2023).

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  • Collagenase treatment decreases muscle stiffness in cerebral palsy: A preclinical ex vivo biomechanical analysis of hip adductor muscle fiber bundles.; Developmental medicine and child neurology; (2023).

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  • MICRONUTRIENT INTAKE AND HYPERTENSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS, NHANES 2007-2018; Journal of Hypertension; (2023).

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  • Epigenetic Biomarkers for Spastic Cerebral Palsy; Unknown Source; (2023).

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  • Launching IDeA state early career clinician-scientists with mentored just-in-time grant-writing support; Journal of Clinical and Translational Science; (2023).

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  • Abstract 17653: Neighborhood Deprivation and Cardiovascular Health in US Adolescents, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2018; Circulation; (2023).

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  • Abstract 17079: Relationship Between Neighborhood Level Deprivation and Cardiovascular Health Status Among 122,177 Adolescents, Analysis of PEDSnet Data; Circulation; (2023).

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  • Abstract 17035: Relationship Between Neighborhood Level Deprivation and Blood Pressure Among 122,177 Adolescents, Analysis of PEDSnet Data; Circulation; (2023).

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  • Exploring the Multifaceted Biologically Relevant Roles of circRNAs: From Regulation, Translation to Biomarkers; Cells; (2023).

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  • Association of Area Deprivation With Primary Hypertension Diagnosis Among Youth Medicaid Recipients in Delaware.; JAMA network open; (2023).

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  • SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC-ECONOMIC STATUS IS A SIGNIFICANT PREDICTOR OF COVID-19 RELATED HOSPITALIZATIONS IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS: POPULATION LEVEL ANALYSIS BASED ON US NATIONAL COVID COHORT COLLABORATIVE (N3C) DATA; Journal of the American College of Cardiology; (2023).

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  • Abstract P635: Poverty, Sodium Intake and Abnormal Blood Pressure Among Youth 13 to 18 Years of Age; Circulation; (2023).

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  • DNA Methylation Analysis Reveals Distinct Patterns in Satellite Cell–Derived Myogenic Progenitor Cells of Subjects with Spastic Cerebral Palsy; Journal of Personalized Medicine; (2022).

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  • Transcriptional analysis of muscle tissue and isolated satellite cells in spastic cerebral palsy; Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology; (2021).

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  • An Emerging Role for Epigenetics in Cerebral Palsy; Journal of Personalized Medicine; (2021).

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  • Machine learning in epigenetic diseases; Medical Epigenetics; (2021).

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  • Machine learning in epigenetic diseases; Medical Epigenetics; (2021).

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  • Substrate stiffness directs the phenotype and polarization state of cord blood derived macrophages; Acta Biomaterialia; (2021).

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  • Resistance to Neuromuscular Blockade by Rocuronium in Surgical Patients with Spastic Cerebral Palsy; Journal of Personalized Medicine; (2021).

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  • Scientific Posters; Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology; (2020).

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  • Neointimal Hyperplasia after Carotid Transection and Anastomosis Surgery is Associated with Degradation of Decorin and Platelet Derived Growth Factor Signaling.; JVS-vascular science; (2020).

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  • Regulation of neovasculogenesis in co-cultures of aortic adventitial fibroblasts and microvascular endothelial cells by cell-cell interactions and TGF-β/ALK5 signaling.; PloS one; (2020).

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  • Identification of epigenetic signatures indicating cerebral palsy; USPTO; (2020).

  • Human Adventitial Fibroblast Phenotype Depends on the Progression of Changes in Substrate Stiffness.; Advanced healthcare materials; (2020).

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  • Biomarker Blood Tests for Cerebral Palsy; Cerebral Palsy; (2020).

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  • Neuromuscular Junction Changes in Spastic Cerebral Palsy; Cerebral Palsy: Second Edition; (2020).

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  • Biomarker Blood Tests for Cerebral Palsy; Cerebral Palsy: Second Edition; (2020).

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  • Method for protecting skeletonized blood vessels; USPTO; (2020).

  • Spatial Patterning of Molecular Cues and Vascular Cells in Fully Integrated Hydrogel Channels via Interfacial Bioorthogonal Cross-Linking.; ACS applied materials & interfaces; (2019).

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  • Neuromuscular Junction Changes in Spastic Cerebral Palsy; Cerebral Palsy; (2019).

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  • Scientific Posters; Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology; (2019).

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  • Epigenetic machine learning: utilizing DNA methylation patterns to predict spastic cerebral palsy; BMC Bioinformatics; (2018).

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  • Motor unit diversity during elbow flexion; International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER; (2017).

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  • Aortic adventitial fibroblast sensitivity to mitogen activated protein kinase inhibitors depends on substrate stiffness.; Biomaterials; (2017).

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  • Reduced arterial elasticity due to surgical skeletonization is ameliorated by abluminal PEG hydrogel.; Bioengineering & translational medicine; (2017).

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  • Attenuation of Maladaptive Responses in Aortic Adventitial Fibroblasts through Stimuli-Triggered siRNA Release from Lipid-Polymer Nanocomplexes.; Advanced biosystems; (2017).

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  • Resilin-PEG hybrid hydrogels yield degradable elastomeric scaffolds with heterogeneous microstructure; Biomacromolecules; (2016).

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  • Fetal Rat Gubernaculum Mesenchymal Cells Adopt Myogenic and Myofibroblast-Like Phenotypes; Journal of Urology; (2016).

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  • Polygenic inheritance of cryptorchidism susceptibility in the LE/orl rat; Molecular Human Reproduction; (2015).

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  • Decreasing matrix modulus of PEG hydrogels induces a vascular phenotype in human cord blood stem cells; Biomaterials; (2015).

  • Phenotype specific association of the TGFBR3 locus with nonsyndromic cryptorchidism; Journal of Urology; (2015).

  • Neuromotor synapses in Escobar syndrome; American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A; (2013).

  • Electrospinning Fundamentals and Applications; Biomaterials Science; (2013).

  • Disruption of Basal Lamina Components in Neuromotor Synapses of Children with Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy; PLoS ONE; (2013).

  • 322; Critical Care Medicine; (2013).

  • Integrated wall stress: A new methodological approach to assess ventricular workload and myocardial contractile reserve; Journal of Translational Medicine; (2013).

  • Differential effects of substrate modulus on human vascular endothelial, smooth muscle, and fibroblastic cells; Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A; (2012).

  • Reduced expression of androgen receptor and myosin heavy chain mRNA in cremaster muscle of boys with nonsyndromic cryptorchidism; Journal of Urology; (2012).

  • In situ crosslinkable heparin-containing poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels for sustained anticoagulant release; Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A; (2012).

  • Using distraction forces to drive an autodistractor during limb lengthening; Medical Engineering and Physics; (2011).

  • Development of a force-driven distractor for distraction osteogenesis; Journal of Medical Devices, Transactions of the ASME; (2011).

  • Continuous Force Measurement in Limb Lengthening; J Bioengineer & Biomedical Sci; (2011).

  • Force feedback in limb lengthening.; Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference; (2010).

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  • Erratum: Production of heparin-containing hydrogels for modulating cell responses (Acta Biomaterialia 5 (2009) (865-875)); Acta Biomaterialia; (2010).

  • Three-dimensional culture alters primary cardiac cell phenotype; Tissue Engineering - Part A; (2010).

  • Identification of neuromuscular junctions by correlative confocal and transmission electron microscopy; Journal of Neuroscience Methods; (2010).

  • Force feedback in limb lengthening; 2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC'10; (2010).

  • Optimizing limb lengthening using an autodistractor and force measurement; 2008 Proceedings of the 9th Biennial Conference on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis; (2009).

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  • Half-logistic time constants as inotropic and lusitropic indices for four sequential phases of isometric tension curves in isolated rabbit and mouse papillary muscles; International Heart Journal; (2009).

  • Production of heparin-containing hydrogels for modulating cell responses; Acta Biomaterialia; (2009).

  • Half-logistic time constant: A more reliable lusitropic index than monoexponential time constant regardless of temperature in canine left ventricle; Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology; (2008).

  • Characterization of electrospun poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) fibers; Polymer; (2008).

  • C histomorphology of neuromuscular junction in Duchenne muscular dystrophy; Paediatric Anaesthesia; (2008).

  • Altered expression of muscle- and cytoskeleton-related genes in a rat strain with inherited cryptorchidism; Journal of Andrology; (2008).

  • Culture on electrospun polyurethane scaffolds decreases atrial natriuretic peptide expression by cardiomyocytes in vitro; Biomaterials; (2008).

  • Characterization of intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> transient by the hybrid logistic function in aequorin-injected rabbit and mouse papillary muscles; Journal of Physiological Sciences; (2007).

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  • Gene expression profile of bioreactor-cultured cardiac cells: Activation of morphogenetic pathways for tissue engineering; DNA and Cell Biology; (2007).

  • Growth and development in a heliox incubator environment: A long-term safety study; Neonatology; (2007).

  • Growth and development in a heliox incubator environment: a long-term safety study.; Neonatology; (2007).

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  • Dysmorphic neuromuscular junctions associated with motor ability in cerebral palsy; Muscle and Nerve; (2005).

  • Surgery and anesthesia for children who have cerebral palsy; Anesthesiology Clinics of North America; (2005).

  • Exogenous metalloporphyrins alter the organization and function of cultured neonatal rat heart cells via modulation of heme oxygenase activity; Journal of Cellular Physiology; (2004).

  • Tissue Engineering a Heart: Critical Issues; Functional Tissue Engineering; (2003).

  • Identification of Nucleic Acid Binding Proteins Using Nondenaturing Sodium Decyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDecS-PAGE); Protein Protocols Handbook, The; (2002).

  • Can tissue engineering mend broken hearts?; Circulation Research; (2002).

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  • Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Discontinuous Gel Electrophoresis of Proteins: M<sub>r</sub> -Based Separation of Proteins with Retained Native Activity; Protein Protocols Handbook, The; (2002).

  • Neuromuscular junctions in cerebral palsy: Presence of extrajunctional acetylcholine receptors; Anesthesiology; (2002).

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  • Cardiac Tissue; Methods of Tissue Engineering; (2002).

  • Neuromuscular Junctions in Cerebral Palsy; Anesthesiology; (2002).

  • Isolated pancreatic amylase deficiency: Probable error in maturation; Journal of Pediatrics; (2000).

  • Room 220-222, 10/16/2000 9: 00 AM - 10: 30 AM (PD) Neuromuscular Junction in Cerebral Palsy. Presence of Extrajunctional Acetylcholine Receptors; Anesthesiology; (2000).

  • Isolated pancreatic amylase deficiency: Probable error in maturation; Journal of Pediatrics; (2000).

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  • Cardiac organogenesis in vitro: Reestablishment of three-dimensional tissue architecture by dissociated neonatal rat ventricular cells; Tissue Engineering; (1999).

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  • Cardiac organogenesis in vitro: reestablishment of three-dimensional tissue architecture by dissociated neonatal rat ventricular cells.; Tissue engineering; (1999).

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  • Influence of calcium on proliferation and phenotype alteration of cardiomyocyte in vitro; Journal of Cellular Physiology; (1998).

  • Neonatal rat heart cells cultured in simulated microgravity; In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal; (1997).

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  • Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Discontinuous Gel Electrophoresis of Proteins; The Protein Protocols Handbook; (1996).

  • Atrial natriuretic peptide accelerates proliferation of chick embryonic cardiomyocytes in vitro; Differentiation; (1996).

  • Ultrafast protein determinations using microwave enhancement; Molecular Biotechnology; (1995).

  • Corrigendum; Molecular Biotechnology; (1995).

  • Acetonitrile is better than ethanol as a dehydrating agent for cells prepared for SEM; Proceedings - Annual Meeting, Microscopy Society of America; (1994).

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  • Seperation of proteins using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide discontinuous gel electrophoresis; Molecular Biotechnology; (1994).

  • Transepithelial calcium transport in the chick chorioallantoic membrane. I. Isolation and characterization of chorionic ectoderm cells.; Journal of cell science; (1993).

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  • Transepithelial calcium transport in the chick chorioallantoic membrane. II. Compartmentalization of calcium during uptake.; Journal of cell science; (1993).

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  • Transepithelial calcium transport in the chick chorioallantoic membrane II. Compartmentalization of calcium during uptake; Journal of Cell Science; (1993).

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  • Transepithelial calcium transport in the chick chorioallantoic membrane I. Isolation and characterization of chorionic ectoderm cells; Journal of Cell Science; (1993).

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  • Measurement of protein in 20 seconds using a microwave BCA assay; BioTechniques; (1992).

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  • Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide discontinuous gel electrophoresis: M<sub>r</sub>-based separation of proteins with retention of enzymatic activity; Analytical Biochemistry; (1992).

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  • Alterations in cellular calcium handling as a result of systemic calcium deficiency in the developing chick embryo: II. Ventricular myocytes; Journal of Cellular Physiology; (1992).

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  • In vitro study of placental trophoblast calcium uptake using JEG-3 human choriocarcinoma cells; Journal of Cell Science; (1991).

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  • Experimental studies on cultured, shell-less fowl embryos: calcium transport, skeletal development, and cardio-vascular functions; Egg Incubation; (1991).

  • Bisphosphonate action: Alendronate localization in rat bone and effects on osteoclast ultrastructure; Journal of Clinical Investigation; (1991).

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  • Cryptorchidism in the orl rat is associated with muscle patterning defects in the fetal gubernaculum and altered hormonal signaling; Unknown Source; (0000).