The main areas of my research are cardiovascular development, regeneration, molecular genetics and signaling pathways. My lab uses zebrafish as our primary research model to uncover conserved mechanisms underlying normal heart development and regeneration, and the causes of congenital cardiovascular defects.

Research from my lab has identified novel mechanisms by which the developing heart progenitors are patterned and by which differentiated cardiac cells maintain their identity. One question my lab is particularly interested in is how cardiac progenitor cells are selected, which ultimately determine the proper size of the heart.

I became interested in better understanding the molecular and genetic mechanisms of cardiovascular development and disease through my broader interests in developmental biology and organogenesis.

I have more than 20 years’ experience in the field of developmental biology and I spent more than 15 years studying cardiovascular development. I first joined the Molecular Cardiovascular Biology Division at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in late 2009. I have received a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a March of Dimes via the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes Research Grant and multiple NIH R01s to fund my research.

Research from my lab has been published in journals, including PLoS Biology, PLoS Genetics and Development.