Our research focuses on the formation of vertebrate organs, specifically the heart, blood vessels, liver, pancreas and gut.
Questions of interest include cell differentiation, tissue morphogenesis and organ function. We address these questions in the zebrafish, a model system particularly amenable to embryological and genetic studies. We first identify genes critical for these processes, usually by forward genetics, and then proceed to investigate cell biological and biochemical mechanisms. Ultimately, we would like to understand developmental processes at the single cell level, both in terms of cell differentiation, cell behavior (e.g. cell migration) and intrinsic cellular properties (e.g. cell polarization).
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