Current research
Our research is highly diverse and includes topics ranging from embryogenesis, cell reprogramming and organogenesis to aging and stem cell engineering.
Our ongoing and future work will focus on new and emerging areas of developmental biology, such as epigenetics and genomics.
Model systems
We house one of the largest zebrafish facilities in the world. Along with zebrafish (D. rerio), we study several other model systems, including the fruit fly (D. melanogaster), nematode (C. elegans) and mouse (M. musculus), as well as tissue culture systems and embryonic stem cells.
Latest news
Elizabeth Pollina, Ph.D., has been named as a winner of the 2025 MIND Prize
Congratulations to Dr. Liz Pollina! Pollina honored for innovations in neuroscience MIND Prize funds research into neurodegenerative diseases Elizabeth Pollina, PhD, an assistant professor of developmental biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2025 MIND Prize from the Pershing Square Foundation. The MIND (Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery) Prize […]
Kristen Kroll’s New Publication
Congratulations to Dr. Kroll’s Lab on their recent publication! Lifespan in rodents with MYT1L heterozygous mutation. Schreiber A, Swift RG, Wilson L, Kroll KL, Dougherty JD, Maloney SE. Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 10;15(1):4998. PMID: 39930023
Thor Theunissen’s New Publication
Congratulations to Dr. Theunissen’s Lab on their recent publication! Tracking and mitigating imprint erasure during induction of naive human pluripotency at single-cell resolution. Fischer LA, Meyer B, Reyes M, Zemke JE, Harrison JK, Park KM, Wang T, Jüppner H, Dietmann S, Theunissen TW. Stem Cell Reports. 2025 Feb 8:102419. PMID: 39952244