Living animals are not built by construction workers -  we build ourselves.

We develop from a single fertilized egg into adults with trillions of cells. What are the mechanisms that our embryos use to grow into adult organisms? How do aspects of our environment influence who we are? Do these same mechanisms shape how we respond to injury, aging, and infection?

Our lab uses the zebrafish to tackle these questions. The zebrafish is the BEST model organism! We build and use a variety of techniques in zebrafish including CRISPR, lineage tracing, single-cell sequencing, genetics, microscopy, and mathematical modeling. We join these methods with the concepts of traditional developmental biology to study topics like cell fate, organ maintenance, pathogen defense, and ecological pressures.

 To learn more, check out our Research, People, and Publications pages.

If you are interested in joining the lab, please check out the Contact page.

Illustration by Megan Okada - okadamegan@gmail.com