Biography
My research background in biology is broad and multi-faceted. My graduate studies focused in cancer genetics, and my post-doctoral training concentrated in molecular and developmental genetics as well as genomics and genetic engineering in the mouse. During my Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University I studied the roles of the Pbx family of homeodomain-containing transcription factors in mammalian organogenesis by using the mouse as a model system. I subsequently built my independent research program on those studies at Weill Cornell. I am particularly interested in the transcriptional control of morphogenetic processes in the development of the appendicular and axial skeleton, with a special attention to craniofacial structures. During the past years, my laboratory independently generated various Pbx-deficient mouse strains that have led to exciting discoveries on key developmental roles of Pbx proteins in mammalian morphogenesis. The long-term goal of the laboratory is to use genetically engineered and mutagenized mouse strains to model human congenital abnormalities. By this approach, our goal is to implement the available knowledge of DNA mutation in congenital diseases that affect the cranium and the appendages. Our final objective is to improve prenatal diagnostics of human congenital disease and, ultimately, to shape therapeutic interventions.
