Abstract

Morphogens are long-range signaling molecules that pattern developing tissues in a concentration-dependent manner. The graded activity of morphogens within tissues exposes cells to different signal levels and leads to region-specific transcriptional responses and cell fates. To determine how morphogen gradients are established and interpreted, the speaker and his research group study morphogens belonging to the Nodal family. Nodal signals induce and maintain cell fates in embryos and embryonic stem cells but it is poorly understood how dynamic Nodal signaling is interpreted by responding cells to generate different cell types. The speaker will discuss his recent studies that determine how signal concentration, signaling duration, and cellular history underlie the interpretation of Nodal signals.

About the speaker

Prof Alex Schier received his PhD at the University of Basel. After receiving his doctorate in cell biology in 1992, he did postdoctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. He joined the Developmental Genetics Program at Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at New York University in 1996, where he became a tenured Associate Professor in 2001. He is currently Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University.

Prof Schier research addresses three questions including: (i) what is the molecular basis of embryogenesis? (ii) How does an organism sense potentially harmful stimuli? (iii) What are the genes and circuits that regulate sleep and wakefulness? His research group mainly uses zebrafish as a model system, as genetic and imaging approaches can be combined to study complex behaviors and developmental processes in a vertebrate.

Prof Schier received numerous awards including the Irma T Hirschl Career Scientist Award, the HW Mossman Developmental Biologist Award and the McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Award.

Institute for Advanced Study
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