Organ Development and Disease
This research aims to identify the processes that direct the formation of organs during normal embryonic development, as well as elucidating disorders that arise from abnormal development.
- Thomas Bartman, MD, PhD (cardiac), 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 (intestine), 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 (eye), 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 (CNS), studies the molecular genetic control of mouse forebrain development with a particular focus on the generation of neuronal diversity in the ventral telencephalon.
- Tiffany Cook, PhD (eye), 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. - Sandra Degen, PhD (blood), 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 (kidney), 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.
- Richard Lang, PhD (eye), 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 (muscle), 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.
- Masato Nakafuku, MD, PhD (CNS), 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 (kidney), 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 (limb), 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. - James Wells, PhD (pancreas), 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 (intestine), 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.
- Christopher Wylie, PhD (germ cells), 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. - Aaron Zorn, PhD (liver), 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.
