Our laboratory is interested in the development of the blood-forming, or hematopoietic, system in the vertebrate embryo. Most of our studies are aimed at understanding how the hematolymphoid system arises in the zebrafish embryo from the first hematopoietic stem cells. We are leveraging the many advantages that the zebrafish system offers to study the ontogeny of hematopoiesis and immunity. These include the easy visualization of blood cells in the translucent embryo and the ability to dissect genetically the pathways important for blood cell specification, maintenance and function.

Top row (L to R): David Stachura, Patrick Gutschow, Wilson Clements, Julien Bertrand, Geanncarlo Lugo-Villareal. Front row: Shrey Purohit, David Traver, Jennifer Cisson, Iris Chen, Karen Ong, Valerie Wittamer, Jason Reyes, Albert Kim. (Not pictured: Kerstin Richter, Buyung Santoso, Jennifer Tamai, Vicki Lin, Vincent Lee).