Developmental & Stem Cell Biology

BMS is home to numerous faculty members with research programs focused on fundamental questions in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology. In addition to the focus area within BMS, a distinct Graduate Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology exists for those applicants who are committed to those topics. This program has a more focused curriculum including coursework, seminars, and journal clubs specific to Developmental and Stem Cell Biology. The BMS program maintains a more interdisciplinary curriculum, integrating multiple distinct focus areas with an overarching emphasis on biomedically relevant questions.


Most Developmental and Stem Cell Biology faculty members have appointments in both programs. Key topics of investigation among the faculty include cellular specification and differentiation, organogenesis, tissue morphogenesis and regeneration, and cell-cell signaling during development. A variety of model systems are used to pursue relevant topics in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, including worms, flies, fish, chickens, mice, and human-derived tissues and cells.

 

Participating Faculty

Nadav Ahituv, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Human Genetics
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Gene regulation and human disease
Mentorship Development: 

4/2019 - Acknowledging and Negotiating the Mentee-Mentor Tensions Inherent in the Research Lab
4/2019 - Sharpening your Mentoring Skills (SyMS) with Sharon Milgram
6/2020 - Your Role in Workplace Diversity
10/2020 - DEI Champion Training
2/2021 - Three Truths & Three Tries: Facing & Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo & Macro Levels

Rosemary Akhurst, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Growth factors and genetic modifiers in vascular biology and cancer

Bassem Al-Sady, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Mechanisms of formation and maintenance of epigenetic elements
Mentorship Development: 

3/2019 - Promoting Student Mental Health
4/2019 - Sharpening your Mentoring Skills (SyMS)
6/2019 - Implicit Bias Workshop
Initiated the faculty peer-to-peer training effort of the Graduate Mentor Development Program
9/2020 - DEI Champions Training
2/2021 - Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels
11/2021 - Defining Distance Traveled: A Working Session
1/2022 Equity Based Interview Practices
5/2022 Effective Strategies for IDPs

Michael Alexanian, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Our team studies how chromatin receives, processes, and amplifies environmental stress signals that drive changes in cell states leading to heart disease.

Arturo Alvarez-Buylla

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Birth and Migration of New Neurons
Mentorship Development: 

9/11/20     Mentoring Across Differences

Serine Avagyan, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
We study the origins of clonal blood disorders with focus on developmental hematopoiesis and forces driving clonal competition in the context of inherited cancer predisposition conditions.

Diane Barber, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
We investigate basic cell biology and how it is dysregulated in diseases. We bridge structural and cell biology to resolve cell behaviors relevant to cancer, stem cells and neurodegeneration.

Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Studies of radiation as carcinogen in breast, and its application as a cancer treatment using mouse models and human tissues and cell cultures.

James Bayrer, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Research Summary: 
Our laboratory deciphers the molecular machinery controlling intestinal epithelial renewal and gut signaling via genetic disease models coupled with mouse and human intestinal organoids.
Mentorship Development: 

12/19/19 ACRA: Setting training expectations for trainees on the academic career track

Anil Bhushan, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Human Genetics

Brian Black, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Transcriptional Control of Mammalian Organogenesis
Mentorship Development: 

11/23/20    Building Community in the UCSF MSTP

Ben Braun, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Ras signaling in cancer stem cells

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