Martin Lab
Principal Investigator: Christopher Herbert Martin
Institution: University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
Project Summary: Craniofacial abnormalities are the most common form of human birth defect, but their molecular basis remains poorly understood. Highly conserved craniofacial developmental pathways shared across diverse vertebrate species have been shaped by adaptive evolution to produce a tremendous diversity of adaptive craniofacial phenotypes. Fundamental investigation of the genetic basis of these phenotypes will lead to better diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of human birth defects. Indeed, complementary or new information on the genetic basis of many human pathologies can be obtained from naturally occurring organisms, particularly non-model vertebrates, that display analogous divergent phenotypes, known as ‘evolutionary mutant’ models. These natural systems are becoming increasingly tractable for genomic and transgenic approaches and provide an opportunity for ‘evolutionary’ forward genetics. Here I propose to build on my lab’s demonstrated success developing a new vertebrate system studying the genetic basis of highly divergent craniofacial morphology in Caribbean pupfishes. Pupfish exhibit novel craniofacial features not found in other non-model fish systems and are hi…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01DE027052-09: Discovery and functional analysis of novel candidate genes and variants underlying craniofacial diversification in Cyprinodon pupfishes (2026)
- 5R01DE027052-08: Discovery and functional analysis of novel candidate genes and variants underlying craniofacial diversification in Cyprinodon pupfishes (2025)
- 2R01DE027052-07A1: Discovery and functional analysis of novel candidate genes and variants underlying craniofacial diversification in Cyprinodon pupfishes (2024)
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