Research in my lab focuses on investigating molecular mechanisms that control the development of the mammalian somatosensory system. In particular, we are studying how somatic sensory neurons form stereotyped connections with their peripheral targets on the body surface and at the same time form precise connections inside the brain, thus establishing a mirror image of the body's sensory space in the central nervous system.
We use a variety of approaches including genome-wide gene expression analysis; in vitro neuronal culture assays and imaging; as well as the generation of transgenic and mutant mice strains to study the entire developmental program of sensory neuron differentiation, axon outgrowth, target selection and the formation of a functional somatosensory map.
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