Justin Varholick

Assistant Professor of Biology
Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
Kennesaw State University

Education

Post-doc Fellowship '19-'25 Regenerative Biology, University of Florida
Ph.D. '15-'18 Biomedical Science, University of Bern, Switzerland
M.A. '12-'14 Biopsychology, UNC Greensboro, Wake Forest University 
B.A. '08-'12 Psychology and Biology, UNC Greensboro

About Me

I study how highly regenerative animals heal, and whether that healing actually restores function or whether the animal is compensating. Most regeneration research stops at structure: is the tissue structure restored? My lab asks what comes after. Does the regenerated nerve transmit sensation correctly? Does the regenerated muscle restore motor control? When the function returns, how much is true restoration and how much is behavioral adaptation?

To answer these questions, we work with animals that heal skin without scars, regrow peripheral nerves, and restore lost tissue. We study their natural physiology and behavior before injury, measure the quality of structural recovery after it, investigate the processes underlying that recovery at the cellular and molecular level, and use behavioral assays to test whether structure and function recover together.

All of our research takes place in the Varholick Lab at Kennesaw State University. If you are interested in tissue regeneration, behavioral recovery, or peripheral nerve repair, reach out.

Research Interests

Tissue regeneration, Peripheral nerve repair, Fibrosis and scarring, Behavioral recovery, Neuroplasticity, Quality of regeneration, Phenotypic variability, Histology, Bioinformatics