Dr. Knox received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of NSW, Sydney Australia and joined NIDCR as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Hoffman in 2007. Through her initial investigations in the developing salivary gland she discovered an essential role for autonomic nerves in organogenesis and specifically in the regulation of stem cells. This finding became the basis of her laboratory at UCSF and she has continued to reveal new roles for nerves not only in developmental processes but also in adult regeneration after injury. The Knox labs discovery that neurogenic agents can rescue the structure and function of salivary glands damaged by radiation has significant implications for head and neck cancer patients, a population for which radiation is standard. Based on this work she co-founded a startup company, Hydronovo, that is generating a neurogenic product for clinical application. However, in addition to translational research, Dr. Knox continues to be delving into our basic understanding of tissue regeneration for identifying additional mechanisms that can be therapeutically targeted in the future.