Yamada Lab
Principal Investigator: Toshimichi Yamada
Institution: University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary Current methods for generating brain organoids are limited in their ability to mimic the spatial and structural complexity of the brain. Most organoid models lack reproducibility in cell-type patterning and tissue architecture, and they fail to capture the full cellular diversity seen in the brain. Brain organoids are typically generated by protocols that isotropically applying exogenous morphogens in the media, but they often produce oversimplified, poorly organized architectures and lack multi-regional interactions. A major limitation of these protocols is the lack of spatial control over morphogen signaling, which is a key driver of morphogenesis during natural development. Thus, there remains a critical need for scalable strategies that enable fine spatial and temporal control of morphogen signals to drive coordinated multi-axis and multi-regional patterning in brain organoids. We recently developed platform of engineered synthetic organizer cells – spatially self-assembling cells that produce morphogens from spatially defined positions. Here, we propose to use synthetic organizers to induce multi-axis patterning in 3D brain organoids. Our long-term goal of this…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R21MH144687-01: Using Synthetic Organizers to Drive Multi-Axis Patterning of Brain Organoids (2026)
Explore 700+ US Biology Labs on FindBioLabs.com