A research training environment will be provided for students in many areas of stem cell biology including the basic biology of stem cells, the development of tools for stem cell research, the genetics of cortical stem cells, central nervous system injury and stroke, neurodegenerative disease, tissue engineering, diabetes, the role of stem cells in cancer, stem cell therapy for ocular disease, and the use of stem cell-based screens to identify novel drugs targeting cell proliferation, differentiation, and death.

The developmental biology and genetics research focus emphasizes research training in molecular and genetic aspects of cellular and developmental biology. The faculty use a variety of experimental systems including yeast, hydra, fruit flies, amphibians, chicken, mouse, and human, and they use broad-based approaches to study many important problems including embryonic induction, pattern formation, growth control, regeneration, neurogenesis, tumorigenesis, signal transduction, and metabolic regulation. By combining diverse groups of researchers linked by shared interests in biology within a single research interest group, we hope to expose students to a broad range of influences from and intellectual interactions with the various faculty members. The number of professors involved with this group increases the resources available as students receive training in some of the most active and rapidly growing research areas in biology.

Focus Area Coordinator:  Matthew Inlay, minlay@uci.edu

  • Kavita Arora, karora@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Drosophila development; TGF-b signal transduction; cell signaling
  • Pierre Baldi, pfbaldi@ics.uci.edu, Computer Science, Biological Chemistry, and Development & Cell Biology
    Bioinformatics, computational biology, probabilistic modeling, and machine learning
  • Kevin Beier, kbeier@uci.edu, Physiology & Biophysics
    Identifying how experience modulates activity dynamics in neural circuits, both acutely and chronically
  • Bruce Blumberg, blumberg@uci.edu, Developmental and Cell Biology
    Gene regulation by nuclear hormone receptors in vertebrate development and adult physiology
  • Anne L. Calof, alcalof@uci.edu, Anatomy & Neurobiology and Developmental & Cell Biology
    Regulation of stem cells in development and regeneration; genomic strategies for understanding the etiology and treatment of human neurodevelopmental disorders using transgenic mouse models
  • Ken W.-Y. Cho, kwcho@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Transcriptomic and epigenomic analysis in early vertebrate development
  • Olivier Cinquin, ocinquin@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Systems biology of cell differentiation
  • Xing Dai, xdai@uci.edu, Biological Chemistry
    Skin and mammary stem cells, Wnt signaling, chromatin, transcription
  • Peter J. Donovan, pdonovan@uci.edu, Biological Chemistry, Department of Developmental & Cell Biology
    Molecular Genetics of Germ Cell and Stem Cell Development
  • Dae Seok Eom, dseom@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Specialized cellular projection-mediated cell-to-cell signaling
  • David Gardiner, dmgardin@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Limb regeneration, wound healing and tissue repair
  • Matt Inlay, minlay@uci.edu, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
    Molecular mechanisms regulating developmental fate decisions in embryonic and adult hematopoiesis in mouse and humans.
  • Arthur D. Lander, adlander@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology and Pharmacology
    Mechanisms of growth factor action; extracellular matrix; developmental neurobiology; systems biology
  • Ulrike Luderer, uluderer@uci.edu, Medicine, Developmental & Cell Biology and Public Health
    Roles of toxicant exposure and oxidative stress in ovarian aging, premature ovarian failure and ovarian cancer
  • Grant MacGregor, gmacg@uci.edu, Developmental Biology
    Gametogenesis in the mouse
  • Edwin S. Monuki, emonuki@uci.edu, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Developmental & Cell Biology
    Cerebral cortex development and disease
  • Diane K. O’Dowd, dkodowd@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology and Anatomy & Neurobiology
    Electrical excitability and synaptic connectivity during development
  • Michael Parsons, mparson1@uci.edu, Developmental and Cell Biology
    Role of stem cells and facultative progenitors in development and regeneration of insulin-producing cells
  • Maksim Plikus, plikus@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Stem cells and stem cell niche, Regeneration of tissues and organs, Biological pattern formation, Self-organization, Skin and hair follicles, Adipose tissue, WNT and BMP signaling pathways
  • Tom Schilling, tschilli@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Skeletal and neural patterning; mutational analysis and molecular genetics in the zebrafish
  • Robert E. Steele, resteele@uci.edu, Biological Chemistry
    Molecular biology of Hydra development
  • Leslie M. Thompson, lmthomps@uci.edu, Psychiatry and Biological Chemistry
    Molecular and biochemical mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and therapeutic approaches to human neurodegenerative disease
  • Rahul Warrior, rwarrior@uci.edu, Developmental & Cell Biology
    Developmental regulation of proteoglycan biosynthesis; Transcriptional response to BMP growth factor signaling
  • Weian Zhao, weianz@uci.edu,  Biological Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences
    Stem cell engineering and clinical translation, molecular sensors and diagnostics, single-cell analysis and screening, cancer immunotherapy

Faculty – Secondary Affiliation