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.
