Kiehart Lab
Principal Investigator: Daniel Peter Kiehart
Institution: Duke University (Durham, NC)
Primary Subfield: Genetics/Genomics
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students
Research Focus
Cell sheet morphogenesis is essential for metazoan development and homeostasis of animal form – it contributes to development, such as in gastrulation, neural tube, heart and palate formation and to homeostasis, in wound healing. Gene expression and signaling cascades coordinate and regulate the cellular machines that drive morphogenesis. Disfunction in these components causes developmental and wound healing defects that can disfigure or kill. We focus on the molecular mechanisms of cell sheet morphogenesis during dorsal closure (DC) in Drosophila melanogaster. During DC, lateral epidermal sheets advance to close a dorsal opening. We pioneered the study of DC as a model system and use an unusually diverse repertoire of interdisciplinary approaches, including live imaging, reverse and forward genetics and biophysical strategies to interrogate the mechanics and regulation of closure in wild type and mutant embryos. We found that DC is the sum of four major dynamic processes and is robust and resilient – no single force that drives closure is absolutely required. Processes that contribute to DC at the molecular, cellular and tissue scales are highly conserved in animal phylogeny makin…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35GM127059-09: Morphogenesis: Biophysics and Genetics of Dorsal Closure (2026)
- 5R35GM127059-08: Morphogenesis: Biophysics and Genetics of Dorsal Closure (2025)
- 5R35GM127059-07: Morphogenesis: Biophysics and Genetics of Dorsal Closure (2024)
- 3R35GM127059-07S1: Morphogenesis: Biophysics and Genetics of Dorsal Closure (2024)
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