Our theoretical and computational work is designed to integrate and abstract rapidly accumulating heterogeneous datasets, to propose critical tests of multiscale regulatory mechanisms, and to guide our own genetic and imaging experiments. Our research is organized around three main themes: the mechanistic modeling of pattern formation and morphogenesis; the synthesis and decomposition of developmental trajectories; and the modeling of human developmental defects. Current projects focus on small cell clusters (motivated by our work on early embryos and animal germline development), graph dynamics in rearranging cell networks (motivated by problems of epithelial morphogenesis), and the effects of activating mutations in signaling enzymes (motivated by our work on a large class of human developmental abnormalities).
Studies of fate patterning during development typically emphasize cell-cell communication via diffusible chemical signals. Recent experiments on stem cell colonies,…
Physical Review ResearchGermline-soma segregation is crucial for fertility. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) arise early in development and are the very first cells…
Cell BiologyTissue deformations during morphogenesis can be active, driven by internal processes, or passive, resulting from stresses applied at their boundaries.…
arXiv
