Rate My Professor Stephanie Bonney

Stephanie Bonney, PhD, serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her research program centers on perivascular cells in the brain, examining how these often-overlooked cells support vascular structure and function during health and contribute to pathologies like cerebral small vessel disease. Employing cutting-edge imaging modalities—including in vivo two-photon microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and 3D electron microscopy—the Bonney Lab elucidates vascular dynamics, interactions between perivascular fibroblasts and macrophages, and mechanisms of capillary regression and hypoperfusion. This work has implications for neurodegenerative diseases associated with vascular dysfunction.

Bonney obtained her Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado Denver in 2010 and her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2019, with a dissertation entitled "Building and breaking down the blood-brain barrier." Her graduate work under Julie Siegenthaler investigated retinoic acid's diverse roles in brain vascular development and blood-brain barrier properties. Following her PhD, she pursued postdoctoral training at Seattle Children's Research Institute in the laboratory of Andy Shih from 2019 to 2024, where she advanced studies on mural cells, pericyte-endothelial interfaces, and meningeal fibroblast origins. Notable publications include "Capillary regression leads to sustained local hypoperfusion by inducing constriction of upstream transitional vessels" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024), "Impaired capillary-venous drainage contributes to gliosis and demyelination in mouse white matter during aging" (Nature Neuroscience, 2025), "Distinct features of brain perivascular fibroblasts and mural cells revealed by in vivo two-photon imaging" (Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 2022), "Formation and function of the meningeal arachnoid barrier around the developing mouse brain" (Developmental Cell, 2023), and "Diverse Functions of Retinoic Acid in Brain Vascular Development" (Journal of Neuroscience, 2016). Her contributions have been published in leading journals, enhancing understanding of neurovascular biology. Bonney participates as faculty in the Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development graduate programs.