staff

The research in our laboratory focuses on obtaining mechanistic insights into the role of the trillions of bacteria and viruses within the gastrointestinal tract in nutrition and pharmacology.

The Fattahi lab uses human pluripotent stem cells to model neural crest and peripheral nervous system development, leveraging these models to advance drug discovery and regenerative therapies.

With a combination of molecular genetics, biochemistry, functional genomics, and cell biology, we are exploring the molecular mechanisms and environmental cues that govern the transitions between different choanoflagellates cell types.

We develop and apply innovative approaches, such as CRISPR-based functional genomics, in human iPSC-derived neurons and glia and mouse models to elucidate mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.

The Watkins Lab studies axonal stress signaling to understand how transcriptional programs determine neuronal fate in injury and disease, from driving neurodegeneration to enabling axon regeneration

Longevity, Brain Resilience, and Sex Differences

Understanding the spatial organization of cell signaling molecules and nuclear genome in development and cancer using microscopy and protein/cell engineering.

We use Xenopus tropicalis, diploid frogs, as a high-throughput platform for genetic analysis to identify convergent biology underlying psychiatric disorder risk genes