Developmental Biology

The environment for research in Developmental Biology is particularly rich on the Duke campus. Research opportunities range from stem cell biology to studying genomics and proteomics in transgenic zebrafish and mice. Fellows have the opportunity to learn a diverse array of molecular and cellular techniques including physiological functional studies at the whole animal or organ level as well as in single cells.

Blanche Capel, Ph.D., Associate Professor Cell Biology

Dr. Capel 's work explores the role of Sry in organogenesis of the testis. During development, specific genes are thought to act as genetic switches, inducing molecular cascades that control the differentiation of embryonic tissues into adult cell types and organs. The process of sex determination in mammals is dependent on the expression of a single gene on the Y chromosome, Sry. Sry acts as a genetic switch and induces a wide variety of downstream events in the undifferentiated gonad to turn its development from the ovarian pathway to the testis. Her laboratory studies the cellular and molecular events induced by Sry expression to give us information about genetic switch genes, testis formation and organ development in general. Her lab has identified several pathways downstream of Sry , including cell migration, cell differentiation, proliferation, and many of the genes associated with these events. Experimental approaches include organ culture, transgenic mice, differential screens, confocal microscopy, biochemical and molecular techniques, classic mouse genetics and comparative embryology.

Brigid L.M. Hogan, Ph.D., FRS, Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology

Dr. Hogan is exploring the molecular, cellular and genetic mechanisms regulating the growth, differentiation, and homeostasis of mammalian organ systems. Her lab uses the mouse as a model organism for embryological and genetic manipulation. Currently, her group is focusing on the early branching morphogenesis and postnatal turnover and repair of the lungs and other endodermal organs.

His research focuses on understanding postnatal development of the electrophysiologic properties of ventricular myocardium. Specifically, he is studying age-related changes in the action potential across the ventricular wall using various techniques including intracellular microelectrode and optical records. Studies are performed to evaluate not only the steady-state electrophysiologic properties but dynamic action potential kinetics as well. This information will allow us to better understand the complex interaction between myocardial development and age-related changes in arrhythmia vulnerability.





Joseph Izatt, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Izatt’s research concentrates on optical coherence tomography (OCT) and its applications to biomedical imaging. OCT allows subsurface imaging at the micron level using light, with present applications to developmental biology models and human clinical imaging. Collaboration with Dr. Margaret Kirby has allowed three dimensional imaging of cardiac morphology and development in the chick embryo. Human clinical research is actively ongoing including ophthalmologic applications of OCT in retinal imaging and gastrointestinal endoscopic imaging utilizing OCT. New research is focusing on the development of molecular contrasts to complement OCT imaging. Dr. Izatt serves as Director of the Laboratory for Biophotonics at the Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Communications Systems at Duke University.



Margaret Kirby, Ph.D., Cardiac and Brain Morphogenesis

Dr. Margaret Kirby , Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology), Cell Biology and Biology is internationally recognized for her studies of cardiac development. Dr. Kirby and her research team were recruited to the Department of Pediatrics in the Spring of 2001. She has as a member of multiple editorial boards, including those of the Developmental Dynamics, Circulation, Circulation Research, Embryo Today. Her service on NIH review committees includes being a member of the Program Project Review Committee A of NHLBI. And the Cardiovascular Development study section.

Dr. Kirby proposed and tested the hypothesis that neural crest cell function is essential for normal structural and functional development of the heart and great arteries. She established this neural crest cell model as the first proven experimental model to explain congenital cardiac malformations. Her laboratory demonstrated that cardiovascular, thymus, and parathyroid development depend on the migration and incorporation of neural crest cells into these structures. In the context of ventricular dysrhythmias in patients with congenital cardiac defects, her laboratory has also documented that myocardial excitation-contraction coupling is impaired in the embryonic heart in the absence of neural crest cells. The establishment of the neural crest cell model in chick embryos has led to it being the gold standard in analyzing the phenotype of transgenic and mutant mice with defective heart development.

Recently, Dr. Kirby has developed a modification of her neural crest cell theory based on the presence of a midline stripe that is an organizer for brain, face, and heart development. This model provides a unifying concept for commonly recognized clinical syndromes in which abnormal midface, neural, and heart development are present. In addition, her lab has identified a special field of cells in the cardiogenic mesoderm that forms the arterial pole of the heart. These cells are at particular risk for abnormal development which results in many of the most common conotruncal malformations seen in children.

The goal of her research is to establish the mechanisms of signal coordination by neural crest cells in the pharynx and to determine the factors that alter neural crest cell migration and function. These signals are required for arterial pole development. The recently described cells that form the arterial pole depend upon these signals in providing definitive myocardium to the arterial pole. Her laboratory will provide the trainees a rich basic science research environment in the molecular and cell biology study of the mechanisms underlying normal embryonic development.

John Klingensmith, Ph.D., Cell Biology

Dr. Klingensmith is an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology at Duke University Medical Center. His graduate training was in genetics at Harvard and in developmental biology at Stanford, and his postdoctoral work was in mammalian embryology at Toronto. He has been an independent investigator at Duke since January 1998. He holds two NIH grants, one on craniofacial development and the other on neural tube development. He is a prominent educator in the Department of Cell Biology for graduate students in developmental biology and genetics. He also teaches a laboratory course to first year medical students at Duke University Medical School. Dr. Klingensmith has served on several graduate admissions committees and faculty search committees, and is a peer reviewer of grants and manuscripts . However, his primary work is basic research in mammalian development and birth defects, for which he received a Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE) from President Bush at the White House in July, 2002. Dr. Klingensmith’s lab will provide an excellent basic research opportunity for study of the relationship between brain and heart development. The interactions between Dr. Klingensmith and Dr's. Kirby and Creazzo will facilitate and expand the breadth of research opportunities possible.


David R. McClay , Ph.D., Professor of Zoology. Developmental, Cell and Molecular Biology

Dr. McClay 's research is focused on morphogenesis, cell signaling, and cell adhesion. As the embryo establishes three germ layers and organizes the basic body plan, cells rearrange in highly predictable ways. His lab studies 1) the mechanisms by which cells are specified during cleavage to become mesoderm or endoderm; 2) the mechanisms employed by cells to morphogenetically rearrange during gastrulation; and 3) the function of several specific proteins in the morphogenetic process. These functions include participation in cell adhesion, morphogenetic boundary formation and acquisition of positional information during embryogenesis.