Neurobiology of Sensory Systems

We are interested in the regulation of cell renewal, tissue remodelling and  cell fate acqusition in a spatio-temporal order during organogenesis. We focus on the development of the inner ear to understand the signals and cellular events that lead to the senses of hearing and balance. Which signals allow the precise pattern of sensory neurons and hair cells, are those re-used during regeneration, how gene regulation takes place in genes involved in hearig and balance, how the organ is shaped? 

By combining high resolution imaging technologies with genetic, pharmacological and mechanical perturbations in zebrafish embryos we can quantify dynamical cellular and molecular changes over tissues and manipulate them. We also use human inner ear organoids to decipher the role of mutations in the development of inner ear cell types.

Research interests: gene regulation, organogenesis, neural development, cell shape, cell communication, organ niche, hearing loss and vertigo

Keywords: 4D imaging, transgenesis, CRISPR, transcriptomics, zebrafish, inner ear, sensory ganglia,  organoids

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