Bio
I am a zoologist and molecular biologist interested in the molecular basis of regeneration. My research focuses on stem cells and regeneration in ascidians, a group of marine invertebrates that represent the closest living relatives of the vertebrates. One of the main questions that motivate my research is whether regeneration capabilities lost during evolution can, at least to some extent, be re-acquired. As regeneration is not universal in the animal kingdom, I hypothesize that comparing regeneration in species with distinct regenerative capacities will lead to the discovery of key components of regeneration.
During my postdoc I intend to use comparative genomics to identify conserved cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie ascidians’ regeneration.
