Craig Micchelli, PhD

Research interests

Stem cells constitute an essential reservoir of renewal potential conserved during evolution. The defining properties of self-renewal and multipotency make stem cells ideally suited for a central role in the generation of new cells during the lifetime of an organism.

Our laboratory investigates the basis of stem cell behavior in their native tissue microenvironments. We use the powerful molecular, genetic and cell lineage tracing methodologies available only in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to dissect the mechanisms controlling stem cell activity during the processes of development, regeneration and disease. In this way, we hope to define the core principles and regulatory circuitry that govern stem cell behavior. Such advances may ultimately translate into novel regenerative medicine therapies.

Education and Professional Experience

Associate Professor
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Developmental Biology
2015-present.

Assistant Professor
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Developmental Biology
2006-2015.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard Medical School
Department of Genetics
2000-2006.

Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Zoology
1994-1999.

Honors and Awards

American Cancer Society
Research Scholar; 2009-2014.

Pew Charitable Trust
Biomedical Scholar; 2007-2011.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Seed Fellowship; 2005-2007.

National Institute of Health
Postdoctoral Fellowship; 2002-2005.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Postdoctoral Fellowship; 2001-2002.

Selected publications

• Strand, M. and Micchelli, C.A. (2013).  Regional Control of Drosophila Gut Stem Cell Proliferation:  EGF Establishes GSSC Proliferative Set Point and Controls Emergence from Quiescence.  PLoSONE 8(11), e80608.
• Lee, W-C. and Micchelli, C.A. (2013).  Development and Characterization of a Chemically Defined Food for Drosophila. PLoSONE 8(7), e67308.
• Strand, M. and Micchelli, C.A. (2011).  Multipotent Gastric Stem Cells Maintain the Adult Drosophila Stomach.  PNAS 108, 17696-176701.
• Beebe, K.B., Lee, W-C., and Micchelli, C.A. (2010).  JAK/STAT signaling coordinates stem cell proliferation and multilineage differentiation in the Drosophila intestinal stem cell lineage.  Developmental Biology 338, 28-37.
• Lee, W-C., Beebe, K.B., Sudmeier, L., and Micchelli, C.A. (2009).  Adenomatous polyposis coli regulates Drosophila Intestinal Stem Cell Proliferation. Development 136, 2255-2264.
• Micchelli, C. A. and Perrimon, N. (2006).  Evidence that stem cells reside in the adult Drosophila midgut epithelium. Nature 439, 475-459.
• Micchelli, C.A., Esler, W.P., Kimberley, T., Jack, C., Berezoyska, O., Korniloya, A., Hyman, B.T., Perrimon, N. and Wolfe, M.S.  (2003).  Gamma-secretase/presenilin inhibitors for Alzheimer’s disease phenocopy Notch mutations in Drosophila. FASEB J.  17(1), 79-81.
• Micchelli, C.A., The, I., Selva, E., Moglia, V. and Perrimon, N.  (2002).  rasp, a putative transmembrane acyltransferase, is required for Hedgehog signaling. Development  129, 843-851.
• Micchelli, C.A. and Blair, S. (1999).  Dorsoventral lineage restriction in wing imaginal discs requires Notch.  Nature 401, 473- 476.
• Micchelli, C.A., Rulifson, E. and Blair, S. (1997).  The function and regulation of cut on the wing margin of Drosophila: Notch, Wingless and a dominant negative role for Delta and Serrate.  Development  124, 1485-1495.
• Rulifson, E., Micchelli, C.A., Axelrod, J., Perrimon, N. and Blair, S. (1996).  wingless refines its own expression domain on the Drosophila wing margin. Nature 384, 72-74.