Current Research

Wnt and Vegf Signaling in CNS Angiogenesis and Blood-Brain Barrier Development

My research uses zebrafish to study how Wnt and Vegf signaling work together to regulate CNS angiogenesis and barriergenesis. Specifically, I hypothesize that Wnt signaling regulates CNS angiogenesis by regulating Vegf signaling, and I hope to test this by using a constitutively active version of a Vegf receptor to rescue CNS angiogenesis in Wnt-signaling deficient mutants. Currently, I am working on generating all of the transgenic zebrafish that will be needed.