Abstract
The speaker's lab investigates questions related to organogenesis including cell differentiation, tissue morphogenesis, organ homeostasis and function, as well as organ regeneration. He and his research group study these questions in zebrafish as well as in mouse and are currently looking at several mesodermal (heart, vasculature) and endodermal (pancreas, lung, liver) organs. They utilize both forward and reverse genetic approaches, and aim to dissect cellular processes using high-resolution live imaging. One goal of their studies is to gain understanding of vertebrate organ development at the single-cell level, and beyond. This talk will focus on small molecule screens relevant to glucose homeostasis, including looking for compounds that increase pancreatic beta-cell regeneration.
About the speaker
Prof Didier Stainier received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University in 1990. He was postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School from 1990 to 1994. He was faculty of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco from 1995 to 2003. He is currently Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research.
Prof Stainier’s research focuses on the formation, function and homeostasis of organs during vertebrate development. He and his research group are interested in understanding the cellular and molecular events that underlie cellular differentiation, tissue morphogenesis and organ function during the formation of the cardiovascular system (the heart and the blood vessels) as well as the liver and pancreas. Their initial approach consists of screening for mutations that affect these processes in zebrafish, a vertebrate model system that allows forward genetics as well as embryological studies. This forward genetic approach leads to the isolation of genes critical for these processes, and together with complementary methods allows them to assemble underlying molecular pathways. They also aim to understand how these genes control the behavior of the cells that form these complex three-dimensional structures, and the zebrafish allows one to study cell behavior in real time and in the context of the living embryo. Ultimately, they would like to reach a systems level understanding of these processes and, as the work progresses, to contribute to the understanding of how defects in these processes lead to human congenital disease or malformations, or even to predisposition to disease.
Prof Stainier received numerous awards including the Mossman Award in Developmental Biology and the Byers Award in Basic Science. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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