Justin T. Roberts, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Justin Roberts is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and a member of the Center for Lung Biology at the University of South Alabama. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from The George Washington University and completed his B.S. and M.S. in Biology at the University of South Alabama. Dr. Roberts earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed postdoctoral training in the Center for Lung Biology at the University of South Alabama.

Research

Work in the Roberts laboratory lies at the intersection of molecular and computational biology, leveraging advanced sequencing technologies to define how RNA-based regulatory mechanisms govern cellular responses to physiological and pathological stress. Using hypoxia as a central model system, the lab’s research is motivated by the idea that differential transcript usage driven by alternative splicing represents a critical and underexplored layer of hypoxic regulation and therefore focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms that control transcript selection during hypoxic stress. Building on prior work developing experimental and bioinformatic approaches to study RNA-mediated processes in cancer — including pioneering methods to detect the RNA modification N6-methyladenosine (m6A) at single-nucleotide resolution — current focus within the Center for Lung Biology is on understanding how additional RNA modifications generated during hypoxic stress regulate alternative splicing in hypoxia-associated pulmonary disease. A central theme of this work concerns the role of reactive oxygen species which give rise to oxidative base modifications such as 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). Emerging evidence suggests these lesions function as targeted regulatory signals rather than random damage, and the lab’s work is extending this paradigm to transcript processing by investigating how oxidative modifications influence splicing decisions through effects on RNA polymerase II kinetics, chromatin accessibility, and RNA–protein interactions. Together, these studies test the overarching hypothesis that epitranscriptomic mechanisms act as dynamic regulatory switches shaping cellular stress responses in both oncogenic and pulmonary disease. Ultimately, the laboratory aims to translate these discoveries into RNA-based biomarkers and therapeutic strategies while also training scientists at the interface of experimental and computational RNA biology.

Publications

Adeyeye I Haastrup, Justin T Roberts, Sheetal Gandotra, Emily M Hartsell, Grant T Daly, Viktor M Pastukh, Lina D Purcell, Ryan G Benton, D Clark Files, Troy Stevens, Mark N Gillespie, Peter E Morris, Raymond J Langley. “Metabolomic biomarkers predict long-term physical function in survivors of acute respiratory failure”. Respiratory Research. 2025 Nov 21. doi:10.1186/s12931-025-03423-2. PMID:41272762

Reece P Stevens, Justin T Roberts, Wolfgang M Kübler, Ji Young Lee, Karthik Suresh, Rebecca F Hough. “Bioenergetics and Metabolism of the Pulmonary Endothelium: Scientific Session I: ReSPIRE 2025”. AJP Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. 2025 Sept 1;329(3):L389-L396. doi:10.1152/ajplung.00222.2025. PMID:40789204

Jeffrey D DeMeis, Justin T Roberts, Haley A Delcher, Noel L Godang, Alexander B Coley, Cana L Brown, Michael H Shaw, Sayema Naaz, Enas S Alsatari, Ayush Dahal, Shahem Y Alqudah, Kevin N Nguyen, Anita D Nguyen, Sunita S Paudel, Hong Dang, Wanda K O’Neal, Michael R Knowles, Dominika Houserova, Mark N Gillespie, Glen M Borchert. “Long G4-rich enhancers target promoters via a G4 DNA-based mechanism”. Nucleic Acids Research. 2025 Jan 11;53(2):gkae1180. doi:10.1093/nar/gkae1180. PMID:39658038. PMCID:PMC11754661

Nathaniel S Olliff, Miles A Hunt, Sunita S Paudel, Kevin N Nguyen, Haley A Delcher, Jeffrey D DeMeis, Justin T Roberts, Brian W Fouty, Jonathon P Audia, Jin H Kim, Glen M Borchert. “Human YRNA 4 (HY4) plasma levels are a prognostic indicator of SARS-CoV-2 infection clinical severity”. microPublication Biology. 2023 Aug 18. doi:10.17912/micropub.biology.000925. PMID: 37662051. PMCID:PMC10474479

Ji Young Lee, Reece P Stevens, Viktoriya V Pastukh, Viktor M Pastukh, Natalya Kozhukhar, Mikhail F Alexeyev, Julie A Reisz, David Nerguizian, Angelo D'Alessandro, Anna Koloteva, Meredith S Gwin, Justin T Roberts, Glen M Borchert, Brant M Wagener, Jean-François Pittet, Brian B Graham, Kurt R Stenmark, Troy Stevens. “PFKFB3 Inhibits Fructose Metabolism in Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells”. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 2023 Sept;69(3):340-354. doi:10.1165/rcmb.2022-0443OC. PMID:37201952. PMCID:PMC10503305

Natalia B Fernández, Sofía M Sosa, Justin T Roberts, María S Recouvreux, Luciana Rocha-Viegas, Jessica L Christenson, Nicole S Spoelstra, Facundo L Couto, Ana R Raimondi, Jennifer K Richer, Natalia Rubinstein. “RUNX1 Is Regulated by Androgen Receptor to Promote Cancer Stem Markers and Chemotherapy Resistance in Triple Negative Breast Cancer”. Cells. 2023 Jan 29;12(144). doi:10.3390/cells12030444. PMID:36766786. PMCID:PMC9913961

Allison M Porman, Justin T Roberts, Emily D Duncan, Madeline L Chrupcala, Ariel A Levine, Michelle A Kennedy, Michelle M Williams, Jennifer K Richer, Aaron M Johnson. “A single N6-methyladenosine site regulates lncRNA HOTAIR function in breast cancer cells”. PLoS Biology. 2022 Nov 28;20(11):e3001885. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001885. PMID:36441764. PMCID:PMC9731500

Grant T Daly, Viktor M Pastukh, Yong B Tan, C Michael Francis, C Zack Aggen, S Chris Groark, Carson Edwards, Madhuri S Mulekar, Mohammad Hamo, Jon D Simmons, Matthew E Kutcher, Emily M Hartsell, Darrell L Dinwiddie, Zachary M Turpin, Hank W Bass, Justin T Roberts, Mark N Gillespie, Raymond J Langley. “Novel attributes of cell-free plasma mitochondrial DNA in traumatic injury”. Clinical and Translational Medicine. 2022 Oct;12(10):e1055. doi:10.1002/ctm2.1055. PMID:36245326. PMCID:PMC9574491

Alexander B Coley, Ashlyn N Stahly, Mohan V Kasukurthi, Addison A Barchie, Sam B Hutcheson, Dominika Houserova, Yulong Huang, Brianna C Watters, Valeria M King, Meghan A Dean, Justin T Roberts, Jeffrey D DeMeis, Krisha V Amin, Cameron H McInnis, Noel L Godang, Ryan M Wright, David F Haider, Neha B Piracha, Cana L Brown, Zohaib M Ijaz, Shengyu Li, Yaguang Xi, Oliver G McDonald, Jingshan Huang, Glen M Borchert. “MicroRNA-like snoRNA-Derived RNAs (sdRNAs) Promote Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer”. Cells. 2022 Apr 12;11(8):1302. doi:10.3390/cells11081302. PMID:35455981. PMCID:PMC9032336

Maggie M Balas, Erik W Hartwick, Chloe Barrington, Justin T Roberts, Stephen K Wu, Ryan Bettcher, April M Griffin, Jeffrey S Kieft, Aaron M Johnson. “Establishing RNA-RNA interactions remodels lncRNA structure and promotes PRC2 activity”. Science Advances. 2021 Apr 14;7(16):eabc9191. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc9191. PMID:33853770. PMCID:PMC8046370

Justin T Roberts, Allison M Porman, Aaron M Johnson. “Identification of m6A residues at single-nucleotide resolution using eCLIP and an accessible custom analysis pipeline.” RNA. 2021 Apr;27(4):527-541. doi:10.1261/rna.078543.120. PMID:33376190. PMCID:PMC7962486

Emmanuel Rosas, Justin T Roberts, Kathleen I O'Neill, Jessica L Christenson, Michelle M Williams, Toru Hanamura, Nicole S Spoelstra, Jeffery M Vahrenkamp, Jason Gertz, Jennifer K Richer. “A Positive Feedback Loop Between TGFβ and Androgen Receptor Supports Triple-negative Breast Cancer Anoikis Resistance”. Endocrinology. 2021 Feb 1;162(2):bqaa226. doi:10.1210/endocr/bqaa226. PMID:33294922. PMCID:PMC7806239

Stephen K Wu, Justin T Roberts, Maggie M Balas, Aaron M Johnson. “RNA matchmaking in chromatin regulation”. Biochemical Society Transactions. 2020 Dec 18;48(6):2467-2481. doi:10.1042/BST20191225. PMID:33245317. PMCID:PMC7888525