My laboratory is focused on defining and analyzing the mechanisms that regulate vertebrate brain morphogenesis during development. In almost all organs, generation of three dimensional structures requires bending of an epithelial sheet. After neural tube formation and specification of different brain regions, the developing vertebrate brain bends multiple times to subdivide regions and pack itself into the skull. Embryonic brain shape is highly conserved across vertebrate species indicating the unique and essential requirement of a shape-function relationship in early brain development. This research is important because abnormal brain morphogenesis can result in a range of disorders including neural tube defects, hydrocephalus, and mental health disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.
