The laboratories in Cell and Developmental Biology areas are engaged in cutting-edge research encompassing gene regulation, cancer biology, neurosystems, and reproductive system development and function. Experimental approaches include conventional and multidisciplinary tools, such as genetics, immunochemistry, transgenics, biochemistry, confocal and electron microscopy, tissue culture, genomics, and bioinformatics. Research questions are being addressed in both invertebrate and vertebrate model systems, including the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian cells. This broad range of activities provides excellent training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, and post-doctoral fellows.
At one level, evolution is remarkably simple, with just a few concepts ? mutation, recombination, random drift and natural selection ? that underlie the overall process. Yet this description obscures many issues that make evolution a fascinating area for study. Evolution typically involves many genes and often revolves around interactions between individuals and their environments. Moreover, genes interact with one another and with the environment in a nonlinear fashion, resulting in complex phenotypes and evolutionary dynamics. My work aims to describe and analyze such interactions with experimental and quantitative rigor. Specifically work in my lab aims to address the fundamental question about the mechanistic basis of observed phenotypic variation. That is, how genetic (and environmental) variation modulate developmental processes and ultimately influence phenotypic outcomes. My research employs genetic and genomic approaches to address these issues, largely using Drosophila (fruit flies) as a model system. Most labs that work with Drosophila study either individual mutations of large effect (such as those that completely knock out a particular function) or subtle quantitative variation (rarely identifying specific genes). We employ both of these empirical approaches in conjunction with our genomic analyses to help relate our understanding from developmental genetics with the natural variation observed in populations.
Cell & Developmental Biology; Ecology & Evolution; Bioinformatics & Functional Genomics
