Faculty Research
Researchers in Developmental Biology are investigating the following areas: 
Division Head
- Christopher Wylie, PhD, studies the differentiation of the germ line, and its contribution to the development of the early embryo. In particular we study the behavior of early germ line cells, and the control of patterning of the early embryo by stored mRNAs and proteins in the oocyte, including the formation of the primary germ layers, and the role of the cytoskeleton in controling the architecture of the embryo.
Visit the Wylie-Heasman lab site.
Faculty
- Bruce Aronow, PhD, uses genomic and computational approaches to investigate gene regulation, biological pathways, and developmental and disease mechanisms. The goals of this work are to better understand health and disease processes, the impact of individual human gene mutations and polymorphisms, and to study the structural, functional, and evolutionary basis of biological systems.
- Thomas Bartman, MD, PhD, uses the zebrafish to study heart development, specifically the formation of the endocardial cushions and valves. He is identifying novel genes required for valve formation as well as studying how early heart function affects late structural morphogenesis.
Visit the Bartman lab site. - Michael Bates, MD, PhD, is interested in molecular regulation of digestive system development, in particular the role of the Hlx homeobox transcription factor in growth, differentiation, and cell migration in intestinal development.
- Nadean Brown, PhD, investigates mechanisms of cell fate specification in the mouse and Drosophila retina. Projects focus on the function and regulation of bHLH transcription factors that promote particular retinal neuron fates.
Visit the Brown lab site. - Kenneth Campbell, PhD, studies the molecular genetic control of mouse forebrain development with a particular focus on the generation of neuronal diversity in the ventral telencephalon.
- Chiou-Fen Chuang, PhD, is interested in understanding how a tremendous diversity of neurons is generated, the first step in wiring complex circuits and networks. She studies the simple nervous system in the small roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, composed of just 302 neurons, to uncover fundamental mechanisms that are likely to be used in our own brain.
Visit the Chuang lab site. - Tiffany Cook, PhD, studies cell type specification using the Drosophila retina as a model. The lab is focused on cell-specific gene regulation, and uses a combination of developmental genetics and biochemistry to understand the role of various transcription factors during eye development.
Visit the Cook lab site. - Jay Degen, PhD, employs genetics-based approaches to better define the physiological and pathological roles of hemostatic factors in vivo. A major focus is the use of gene-targeted mice with selected deficits in coagulation-, fibrinolytic- and platelet-factors to understand the contribution of these hemostatic system components to embryonic development, hemostasis, tissue repair, the inflammatory response and disease pathobiology. Disease contexts of particular interest include cancer, inflammatory joint disease, bacterial infection, and immunological disorders.
Visit the Degen Lab site. - Sandra Degen, PhD, studies the regulation of expression of proteins in blood coagulation and growth control: prothrombin and hepatocyte growth factor-like protein, and its membrane tyrosine kinase receptor, Ron.
- Prasad Devarajan, MD, studies the molecular mechanisms underlying the response of the kidney to various forms of injury, and the determinants of renal regeneration that are shared by the developing kidney.
- Brian Gebelein, PhD, is studying the Hox transcription factor family using the fruit fly as a model organism. The goal of the lab is to use a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches to understand how the eight different Drosophila Hox genes recognize the appropriate downstream genes to specify different cell fates along the anterior-posterior axis.
- Janet Heasman, PhD, focuses on the earliest stages of vertebrate embryogenesis, using the frog Xenopus laevis as a model system to study the molecular mechanisms by which the first tissues - ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm - develop.
Visit the Wylie-Heasman lab site. - Rashmi Hegde, PhD, studies the three-dimensional structure and function of proteins involved in embryonic organ development and in the papillomavirus life- and infection-cycle; using a combination of X-ray crystallography and biochemistry molecular mechanisms are studied at the atomic level.
Visit the Hegde lab site. - Chia-Yi Kuan, MD, PhD, studies the mechanism of neuronal cell death following cerebral ischemia-hypoxia, and means to stimulate adult neurogenesis for cell replacement. These studies involve a broad spectrum of disciplines including genetic, biochemical, physiological, histological, cell biology, and MRI imaging techniques.
- Richard Lang, PhD, has a major interest in early development of the eye emphasizing the signaling and genetics of lens induction. His lab also studies how macrophages signal apoptosis in vascular endothelial cells during programmed vascular regression.
Visit the Lang lab site. - James Lessard, PhD, assesses the functional and developmental significance of the four distinct forms of muscle actins. His lab also studies the regulation of visceral smooth muscle growth and differentiation.
- Xinhua Lin, PhD, is interested in cell-cell signaling mechanisms that control tissue patterning during development. His lab focuses on the role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in morphogen distribution and signaling. Lin lab also studies the molecular mechanisms of Wnt signaling in development.
Visit the Lin lab site. - Jun Ma, PhD, focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that orchestrate embryonic development. His lab's work centers on a morphogenetic protein found in the fruit fly Drosophila, Bicoid, which directs the formation of the anterior structures in the embryo.
- Masato Nakafuku, MD, PhD, studies development and regeneration of the mammalian central nervous system focusing on neural stem cells. His lab seeks to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neural development, and also to develop new therapeutic strategies to cure neurological diseases by applying stem cell technology.
Visit the Nakafuku lab site. - Steven Potter, PhD, is studying the genetic program that drives kidney development. He is particularly interested in the roles of Hox genes in this process. Laser capture microdissection and microarrays are being used to create an atlas of gene expression states in the developing kidney and to define perturbations in mutant kidneys. Kidney cells and kidney organ culture are being used in conjunction with siRNA to define the functions of genes.
- William Scott, PhD, focuses on the effects of human teratogens in rodents; specifically, the pattern formation along the anterior (thumb)/posterior (pinky) axis affected by drug exposure.
Visit the Scott lab site. - Saulius Sumanas, PhD, utilizes zebrafish as a model system to study molecular mechanisms of the embryonic vasculature formation. Visit the Sumanas lab site.
- Charles Vorhees, PhD, studies the effects of substituted amphetamines on brain development, neurotransmitters and behavior. The lab also collaborates on mouse models of targeted CNS genes to determine their function; examples include loss of function models of PDE1B, NPAS3, Na+/K+ ATPase-a1, 2 and 3 isoforms, CrT, Spca1, dopamine D1, MPS-1, DFF45, and others.
Visit the Vorhees's lab site. - James Wells, PhD, researches the molecular mechanisms directing the early stages of endoderm organogenesis using mouse and chick as model systems. We are using information from our embryonic studies to direct the differentiation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells into cell types that will ultimately be used in cell replacement therapies to treat diseases such as Type 1 diabetes.
Visit the Wells lab site. - Dan Wiginton, PhD, uses transgenic mouse models and molecular techniques to investigate development and cell differentiation in the intestinal epithelium. Special emphasis is given to the genetic pathways and factors that control these processes. One model system studied is regulation of the adenosine deaminase gene in intestine.
- Yutaka Yoshida, PhD, investigates the molecular mechanisms of neural circuit formation in the developing spinal cord, using many techniques including molecular biology, mouse genetics, biochemistry, and electrophysiology to understand them.
- Aaron Zorn, PhD, investigates the molecular mechanisms controlling the development of organs such as the liver, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract, which are derived from the embryonic endoderm.
Visit the Zorn lab site.
