Ben Umans

Ben Umans

Neuroscience, genomics

Posts by Collection

portfolio

publications

Vagal Sensory Neuron Subtypes that Differentially Control Breathing

Published in Cell, 2015

In this paper, we identified genetically defined vagal sensory neuron subtypes that innervate the lung and control breathing.

Recommended citation: R. B. Chang, D. E. Strochlic, E. K. Williams, B. D. Umans, and S. D. Liberles. (2015). "Vagal Sensory Neuron Subtypes that Differentially Control Breathing." Cell. 161(3) 622–633.
Download Paper

Fatty acids linked to cardiovascular mortality are associated with risk factors

Published in International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 2015

In this paper, we used genetic data, measured blood analytes, and survey data to disentangle contributions to cardiovascular disease risk.

Recommended citation: S. O. E. Ebbesson, V. S. Voruganti, P. B. Higgins, R. R. Fabsitz, L. O. Ebbesson, S. Laston, W. S. Harris, J. Kennish, B. D. Umans, H. Wang, R. B. Devereux, P. M. Okin, N. J. Weissman, J. W. MacCluer, J. G. Umans, and B. V. Howard. (2015). “"Fatty acids linked to cardiovascular mortality are associated with risk factors." International Journal of Circumpolar Health 74(1).
Download Paper

Sensory Neurons that Detect Stretch and Nutrients in the Digestive System

Published in Cell, 2016

In this paper, we identified genetically defined vagal sensory neuron subtypes that innervate the stomach and small intestine, respond to gastrointestinal chemical and mechanical stimuli, and evoke gastrointestinal motor control outputs.

Recommended citation: E. K. Williams, R. B. Chang, D. E. Strochlic, B. D. Umans, B. B. Lowell, and S. D. Liberles. (2016). "Sensory Neurons that Detect Stretch and Nutrients in the Digestive System." Cell. 166(1) 209-221.
Download Paper

Predictive MRI correlates of lesser metatarsophalangeal joint plantar plate tear

Published in Skeletal Radiology, 2016

In this paper, we designed and executed a study to identify simple MRI features that would accurately predict plantar plate tear injuries and help prioritize patients that would benefit from targeted diagnostic follow-up.

Recommended citation: R. L. Umans, B. D. Umans, H. Umans, and E. Elsinger. (2016). "Predictive MRI correlates of lesser metatarsophalangeal joint plantar plate tear." Skeletal Radiology. 45(7) 969-975.
Download Paper

A Transposon Screen Identifies Genetic Determinants of Vibrio cholerae Resistance to High-Molecular-Weight Antibiotics

Published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2016

In this paper, we implemented a Tn-seq screening strategy to identify proteins required for bacterial outer membrane function.

Recommended citation: T. Dörr, F. Delgado, B. D. Umans, M. A. Gerding, B. M. Davis, and M. K. Waldor. (2016). "A Transposon Screen Identifies Genetic Determinants of Vibrio cholerae Resistance to High-Molecular-Weight Antibiotics." Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 60(8) 4757-4763.
Download Paper

Genetic Determinants of Penicillin Tolerance in Vibrio cholerae

Published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2016

In this paper, we continued our prior investigation of Vibrio cholerae outer membrane assembly and integrity by applying Tn-seq to a post-antibiotic recovery paradigm.

Recommended citation: A. I. Weaver, S. G. Murphy, B. D. Umans, S. Tallavajhala, I. Onyekwere, S. Wittels, J.-H. Shin, M. VanNieuwenhze, M. K. Waldor, and T. Dörr. (2016). "Genetic Determinants of Penicillin Tolerance in Vibrio cholerae." Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 62(10):e01326-18
Download Paper

Nociceptor sensory neurons suppress neutrophil and γδ T cell responses in bacterial lung infections and lethal pneumonia

Published in Nature Medicine, 2018

In this paper, we used a cell type-specific ablation strategy to demonstrate an essential role for subsets of vagal sensory neurons in the response to lung bacterial infection.

Recommended citation: P. Baral, B. D. Umans, L. Li, A. Wallrapp, M. Bist, T. Kirschbaum, Y. Wei, Y. Zhou, V. K. Kuchroo, P. R. Burkett, B. G. Yipp, S. D. Liberles, and I. M. Chiu. (2018). "Nociceptor sensory neurons suppress neutrophil and γδ T cell responses in bacterial lung infections and lethal pneumonia." Nature Medicine. 24(4) 417-426.
Download Paper

Neural Sensing of Organ Volume

Published in Trends in Neurosciences, 2018

In this review, we discuss neural mechanisms of volume sensing across three organ systems.

Recommended citation: B. D. Umans and S. D. Liberles. (2018). "Neural Sensing of Organ Volume." Trends in Neurosciences. 41(12) 911-924.
Download Paper

An Airway Protection Program Revealed by Sweeping Genetic Control of Vagal Afferents

Published in Cell, 2020

In this paper, we identified and characterized a defined subset of sensory neurons that detects chemical stimuli in the larynx to evoke protective reflexes.

Recommended citation: S. L. Prescott*, B. D. Umans*, E. K. Williams, R. D. Brust, and S. D. Liberles. (2020). "An Airway Protection Program Revealed by Sweeping Genetic Control of Vagal Afferents." Cell. 181(3) 574-589.e14.
Download Paper

Where Are the Disease-Associated eQTLs?

Published in Trends in Genetics, 2021

In this review, we discuss current challenges and potential future strategies for identifying gene regulatory effects contributing to human complex traits.

Recommended citation: B. D. Umans, A. Battle, and Y. Gilad. (2021). "Where Are the Disease-Associated eQTLs?" Trends in Genetics. 37(2) 109-124.
Download Paper

Oxygen-induced stress reveals context-specific gene regulatory effects in human brain organoids

Published in Genome Research, 2025

In this paper, we used brain organoids to investigate how common genetic variation interacts with hypoxic stress to regulate gene expression across different human developmental cell states. We found that gene-environment interactions during development likely play an underestimated role in linking genetic variation to neurodevelopmental disease risk.

Recommended citation: Benjamin D Umans and Yoav Gilad (2025). "Oxygen-induced stress reveals context-specific gene regulatory effects in human brain organoids" Genome Research. 10.1101/gr.280219.124.
Download Paper

Vagal TRPV1+ sensory neurons protect against influenza virus infection by regulating lung myeloid cell dynamics

Published in Science Immunology, 2025

In this manuscript, we extended prior work investigating the roles of vagal TRPV1+ neurons in pulmonary infections, looking here at roles in organizing the immune response to influenza.

Recommended citation: Nicole Almanzar, Daping Yang, Jingya Xia, Swalpa Udit, Prabhu Joshi, Sandeep Adhikari, Daisy A Hoagland, Stephen T Yeung, Camille Khairallah, Camille Kairallah, Tomas Huerta, Antonia Wallrapp, Benjamin D Umans, Nicole Sarden, Ozge Erdogan, Nadia Baalbaki, Jiawei Hou, Anna Beekmayer-Dhillon, Juhyun Lee, Kimberly A Meerschaert, Stephen D Liberles, Ruth A Franklin, Bryan G Yipp, Kamal M Khanna, Pankaj Baral, Adam L Haber, Isaac M Chiu. (2025). "Vagal TRPV1+ sensory neurons protect against influenza virus infection by regulating lung myeloid cell dynamics" Science Immunology. 10.1126/sciimmunol.ads6243.
Download Paper

talks

teaching

Teaching experience 1

Undergraduate course, University 1, Department, 2014

This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.

Teaching experience 2

Workshop, University 1, Department, 2015

This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.