Rate My Professor Aaron Severson

Dr. Aaron Severson is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences at Cleveland State University, where he also serves as Biology Undergraduate Program Director and Chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon Institute of Molecular Biology in 2002. Following his doctoral studies, Severson conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology from 2002 to 2012, including work in Györgyi Csankovszki's laboratory supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He joined Cleveland State University as an Assistant Professor in 2012, advancing to Associate Professor, and holds an adjunct staff position in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. Severson is affiliated with the Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease. His research focuses on the mechanisms ensuring accurate genome transmission during meiosis in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. He studies chromosome segregation, DNA replication, generation of sister chromatid cohesion, homolog pairing, crossover recombination, and the roles of protein complexes such as meiotic cohesin, separase, securin, and condensin in preventing genetic instability and aneuploidies, which contribute to reproductive health issues including miscarriages, birth defects, and conditions like Down syndrome. These processes are conserved across eukaryotes, with implications for human gametogenesis. Severson utilizes techniques including live-cell imaging and CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing.

Severson has published extensively on meiotic and cell division processes. Key publications include 'Securin regulates the spatiotemporal dynamics of separase' (bioRxiv, 2023), 'Strategies for efficient genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9' (Genetics, 2019, co-authored), 'Condensin I protects meiotic cohesin from WAPL-1 mediated removal' (PLoS Genetics, 2018), 'Divergent kleisin subunits of cohesin specify mechanisms to tether and release meiotic chromosomes' (eLife, 2014), 'The axial element protein HTP-3 promotes cohesin loading and meiotic axis assembly in C. elegans' (Genes & Development, 2009), 'Condensin restructures chromosomes in preparation for meiotic divisions' (Journal of Cell Biology, 2004, co-first author), and 'Centrosome maturation and mitotic spindle assembly in C. elegans require SPD-5' (Developmental Cell, 2002). His scholarship has accumulated over 1,800 citations. Severson received a $349,200 grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate cohesin function in meiosis. He teaches courses such as Genetics (BIO 310) and Developmental Biology (BIO 464/564/764) and has mentored Ph.D., master's, and undergraduate students, many of whom have pursued successful careers in research and biotechnology.