Research Interests
Developmental Biology
Research Statement
The formation of the gastrointestinal tract is a key event during early embryogenesis of vertebrates and invertebrates and involves highly similar morphogenetic processes. My lab is interested in identifying the genetic programs that control morphogenesis and cellular differentiation at the ectoderm/endoderm boundaries of the Drosophila embryonic gut. We use mutant analysis combined with biochemical and cell biological approaches to define the role of novel genes and their protein products in the signaling pathways that control gut formation.
