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

Professor

Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences

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
10/2021 - Sharpening Your Research Mentoring Skills
5/5/2022 - PSPG Faculty Community Circle
12/2022 - Faculty Development Training: Faculty as People Managers
10-11/2023 - UCSF Inclusive Mentor/Manager Training

Rosemary Akhurst, PhD

Professor

Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

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

Associate Professor

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

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
11/2022 - Faculty Development Training: Inclusivity is a design question. Which practices will you use?
4/2023 - Supporting Learners in Distress

Michael Alexanian, PhD

Assistant Investigator

Gladstone Institutes

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

Heather and Melanie Muss Professor

Department of Neurological Surgery

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

9/2020 - Mentoring Across Differences
9/2021 - Neuroscience Graduate Program - Disabilities Awareness Training

Vincent Auyeung, MD

Asst Professor In Residence

M_MED-CORE-PULM

Primary Thematic Area
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Research Summary
Stress signaling and epithelial plasticity in lung disease

Serine Avagyan, MD, PhD

Asst Professor in Residence

M_PEDS-BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT

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

Professor & Chair

Department of Cell & Tissue Biology

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.
Mentorship Development

1/2023 - Faculty Development Program: Supervising People Who Aren't You: Mentoring/Managing Different Work Styles
2/2023 - Faculty Development Training: Strategies to Transparently Set Expectations in Your Lab

Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff, PhD

Professor

Department of Radiation Oncology

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.
Mentorship Development

7/2021 - Career Conversations

James Bayrer, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

M_PEDS-GASTROENTEROLOGY

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

Professor

Diabetes Center

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

Brian Black, PhD

Professor

Cardiovascular Research Institute

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