Our lab develops novel computational techniques to characterize the dynamics of regulatory circuits at the single cell level, in the context of diverse multi-cellular cohorts within complex tissues, including the tumor microenvironment. Recent work has focused development and cell fate, regeneration and cancer and tumor-immune interactions.
My laboratory seeks to understand how human cells sense hormones, growth factors, and stress and how they integrate and transduce these signals to make decisions to polarize, move, or divide. We investigate these cellular regulatory systems by identifying the key signaling components and measuring when and where signaling occurs as we watch cells decide to … Continued
I view myself as a fundamental cell biologist who is interested in biophysics, chemical biology and drug discovery. My group’s major tools are microscopy and biochemistry, and our work centers on microtubules, a system of dynamic protein filaments that spans the cytoplasm and physically organizes eukaryotic cells. Our group investigates fundamental mechanisms of cell organization, … Continued
In research, our overall goal is to discover general principles, or “rules of the game”, that govern and explain the behavior of cells. We use budding yeast to pursue this goal in four different ways: 1) to experimentally evolve novel traits, such as multicellularity and circadian clocks, 2) to experimentally evolve cells to recover from … Continued
We investigate the molecular mechanisms that govern root growth behavior and responses to mechanical information in their environment, using Arabidopsis thaliana and Brachypodium distachyon as model plant species. Our laboratory uses methodologies that derive from forward, reverse and population genetics, along with systems biology, cell biology, biochemistry and physiology, to better understand the mechanisms that … Continued
We continue to study the axial patterning of the Drosophila oocyte, with the primary emphasis on localization and translational regulation of mRNAs that encode localized patterning determinants. Bruno protein is crucial for this process, and serves to recognize the oskar mRNA and control its activity. Bruno acts as both a repressor and an activator of … Continued
Our laboratory investigates the impact of gene regulation in health and disease. We work in both yeast (Cryptococcus) and in mammalian cells.
Research in my laboratory focuses on the molecular basis of the interaction of tomato with the bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. This interaction provides a powerful experimental system to address three important questions in plant-pathogen biology: 1) What are the key host components that play a role in the immune response triggered by microbe-associated … Continued
My research interests center on arthropod physiology, specifically the physiology of tracheate arthropods such as insects. I am interested in the tightrope they walk between obtaining sufficient oxygen to breathe and desiccating as a result of respiratory water loss, and have spent much of my career unraveling the mysteries of their complex, three-phase gas exchange … Continued
I study the self-renewing mechanism of stem cells, using Drosophila germline stem cells, mouse germline, embryonic, and neural stem cells, as well as Hydra and planarian stem cells as models. I also work on stem cell-related cancers and germline development. My group has made key contributions to the demonstration of stem cell asymmetric division and … Continued