Stern Lab
Principal Investigator: Tomer Stern
Institution: University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
Primary Subfield: Genetics/Genomics
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
ABSTRACT How do tissues acquire their intricate shapes and functions, and how do disruptions in these processes lead to congenital disorders? Understanding the principles that drive tissue morphogenesis is essential for tackling challenges in developmental disorders, regenerative medicine, and synthetic biology. This project centers on the concept of modularity—the idea that tissue formation relies on a finite set of cellular behaviors, such as division, migration, and shape change, which are reused and adapted to build diverse tissue architectures. By leveraging modularity as a unifying framework, this research seeks to uncover how cells organize into functional modules during early brain and epidermal development in the Drosophila embryo. We focus on two complementary systems: the brain and the epidermis. In the brain, we aim to identify patterns of cell division, migration, and differentiation that coordinate neurodevelopment. These patterns will illuminate universal principles of brain morphogenesis and provide a foundation for understanding how disruptions in these processes contribute to congenital disorders. In the epidermis, we will analyze modularity by investigating how m…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R35GM162152-01: Uncovering Morphogenetic Modularity with Data Science (2026)
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