The faculty participating in Washington University's Developmental Biology Program utilize a variety of organisms in their experiments; incorporating Volvox, worms, flies, Xenopus, yeast, chicken, zebrafish, mouse, rat and human systems. Highlighted below are a sampling of faculty representatives working in these different experimental systems. As you read through the list, simply click on the circles to the left of each faculty description for more pictures and information. For a complete list of all faculty who take part in the Program, please also explore the alphabetical faculty listing on this website.

David L. Kirk, Ph.D. "Volvox germ/soma differentiation begins in the embryo with asymmetric divisions that set apart large and small sister cells. The large cells then differentiate as germ cells and reproduce, while the small cells differentiate as somatic cells and eventually undergo programmed death. Mutational analysis has led to..."

Kerry Kornfeld, M.D., Ph.D. "During C. elegans development, the cell P6.p responds to a signal from the anchor cell using a conserved signal transduction pathway that includes a receptor tyrosine kinase, Ras, and mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase. Since mutations that activate this pathway are a frequent cause of..."

Tim Schedl, Ph.D. "The Schedl lab studies germline development of the soil nematode C. elegans. We use genetic, molecular, and cellular approaches to investigate: germ cell proliferation and entry into meiosis, progression through meiotic prophase, meiotic maturation and ovulation, as well as germline sex determination."

Ross L. Cagan, Ph.D. "The developing Drosophila retina has proven enormously useful in addressing the basic questions of cell fate choice and patterning within a neuroepithelium. Perhaps its greatest virtue is its simplicity: the fly retina represents a simple micro nervous system composed of only twenty cell types."

Aaron DiAntonio, M.D., Ph.D. "Synaptic strengths change as neuronal circuits develop and are modified by experience. The primary interest in our laboratory is the regulation of synaptic strength during development. In particular, we focus on the role of postsynaptic activity in the regulation of presynaptic structure and function."

Sarah C.R. Elgin, Ph.D. "We are interested in the role that chromatin structure plays in gene regulation, considering both effects from packaging large domains and local effects of the nucleosome array. We work with Drosophila, combining biochemical, genetic and cytological approaches."

Paul Taghert, Ph.D. "The developmental interests in my laboratory concern the specification of neuronal identity. We study transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms that influence production of critical chemical messengers – neuropeptide transmitters."

Kristen L. Kroll, Ph.D. "Research in our lab focuses on the molecular circuitry underlying the formation of the neural plate. We have identified genes involved in neurogenesis by expression screening: small pools of cDNAs are expressed in embryos of the amphibian Xenopus laevis."

Mark Johnston , Ph.D. "We are learning how yeast cells sense glucose and signal its presence to the gene regulatory machinery. This is one of the most important regulatory mechanisms in yeast, and the organism has evolved sophisticated mechanisms for regulating gene expression in response to glucose."

Steven L. Johnson, Ph.D."We use zebrafish pigment pattern and regenerating fins to discover how cells are recruited to reenter developmental pathways."

Marc R. Hammerman, M.D. "Developed metanephric kidney (m) 12 weeks after transplantation of a renal anlage from a rat embryo into the peritoneum of an adult rat host."

Raphael Kopan, Ph.D.

Kevin Roth, M.D., Ph.D. "Bcl-XL is expressed in post-miotic neurons in the developing mouse cerebrum. The E12.5 telecephalon of a wild-type embryo was subjected to triple labeling of (a) MAP2, (b) Bcl-XL, and (c) bisbenzimide. When the three fluorescence channels were overlapped..."

David M. Ornitz, M.D., Ph.D. "My laboratory is using molecular, genetic and biochemical approaches to study the regulation of cell growth and development in the mouse. We are focusing on the FGF family of ligands and receptors and on model systems involving skeletal, pulmonary, central nervous system and inner ear."

David B. Wilson, M.D., Ph.D. "In situ hybridization of GATA-4 mRNA in mouse embryos. Corresponding bright field (A-C) and dark field (D-F) views of 6 day p.c. (A,D) and 7 day (B,C,E,F) embryos are shown. GATA-4 mRNA is abundantly expressed in the visceral endoderm and nascent mesoderm of the embryos."

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This website is maintained by Jamie Waggoner. Updated June 2001.