Cytoskeleton

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Professor of Cell Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine

EDUCATION:
PhD, Stanford University

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Our major research goal is to elucidate the mechanisms that underlie directed cell migration from its initiation to its termination. This interest stems from the pivotal role of migration in a variety of normal and pathological processes extending from the development to the adult. During development, for example, cells migrate from their birthplaces to distant locations where they then differentiate. While this process is repeated throughout the embryo, it plays out spectacularly in the nervous system. Neuronal precursors migrate from their birthplaces to their final residences and then proceed to extend neuronal growth cones to their targets, where they form synaptic connections with appropriate target cells. In this context, it is no surprise that a large fraction of the congenital brain and heart defects arise from perturbed cell migration. Migration contributes to numerous pathological phenomena as well. It plays a pivotal role in the formation of tumors, which requires the invasion of vasculature as well as in metastasis, the spread of tumors from the primary tumor mass to distant sites where secondary tumors form. Migration also contributes to other disease processes including chronic inflammatory diseases, via leukocyte invasion and vascular disease via smooth muscle migration. Finally, migration participates centrally in normal tissue regeneration and wound repair.