Kenneth Daniel Poss

Discovered regulatory sequences controlling regeneration programs, named tissue regeneration enhancer elements

Kenneth Daniel Poss is a regenerative biologist known for establishing zebrafish as a model for robust cardiac repair. He earned a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College in 1992 and a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT in 1998, followed by postdoctoral work at the University of Utah and Boston Children’s Hospital. From 2003 to 2024, he led a Duke research program on zebrafish regeneration, serving as James B. Duke Professor of Regenerative Biology and Head of the Duke Regeneration Center. He is listed as Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research and Professor of Cell and Regenerative Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, while Duke lists him as emeritus faculty and an associate of its Initiative for Science & Society. His interests include cardiac regeneration, live imaging, and regeneration-enhancer elements.