About
Editors and people

Editors for Developmental Biology

We aim to review research in the field of developmental biology, in both traditional organisms and arising model systems. We particularly encourage studies that advance a mechanistic understanding of important events in embryogenesis, ranging from cell migration, proliferation and differentiation, regeneration, and inductive and signaling interactions, as well as work at the intersection between developmental biology and evolution. Read the latest research in this subject area.

Type

Senior editors

Sofia J Araújo

University of Barcelona, Spain

Sofia J Araújo is Associate Professor in Genetics, at the Department of Genetics Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona, where she leads the genetics of cell behaviour research group. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of London and did postdoctoral training at King’s College London and IBMB-CSIC in Barcelona. Her research at the University of Barcelona is centered in cell migration and branching morphogenesis, with the aim of understanding how branched organs develop and contribute to living organism homeostasis as well as the ageing process. She is currently head of the Genetics section of the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, and board member of the Spanish Society for Developmental Biology. She also holds a Diploma in Science Communication from Birkbeck College, London, and has extensive experience in teaching, communication, and training of scientists on better ways of bringing science to the public.

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
neurodevelopment
DNA repair
single-cell branching
cell migration
tubulogenesis
organogenesis

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster

Competing interests statement
Sofia J Araújo's research is currently funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Catalan Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR).
Utpal Banerjee

University of California, Los Angeles, United States

Utpal Banerjee is the Irving and Jean Stone Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, with a joint appointment in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the David Geffen School of Medicine. He also serves as Co-Director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and as Director of the UCLA Interdepartmental Minor in Biomedical Research. He is a member of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and is affiliated with the Brain Research Institute and the Neuroscience Graduate Program.

Banerjee’s laboratory has worked on several oncogenic and metabolic signals that are important in development and disease. The lab studies the effects of systemic signals on the maintenance of blood progenitors in Drosophila, and the role of metabolic pathways in the control of proliferation and differentiation in the preimplantation mouse embryo.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Cancer Biology

Research focus
haematopoiesis
cancer biology

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
mouse
Albert Cardona

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Albert Cardona is a programme leader at the MRC LMB and a professor of neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK. Formerly a group leader at HHMI Janelia and at the Institute of Neuroinformatics in Zurich. Trained in biology with emphasis in genetics, development and evolution, a passion and need for image processing of bioimagery led to co-founding the Fiji open source software, as well as the TrakEM2 and CATMAID softwares for image registration, segmentation, visualization and the

analysis of neural circuits. His laboratory studies how the structure of a neural circuit relates to its function. Albert's core expertise is in reconstructing neuronal anatomy and synaptic circuits – the connectome – of small animal brains using volume electron microscopy, to then analyse the circuit architecture and formulate computational models of circuit function that capture the neural dynamics and explain how circuits implement behaviour.

Expertise
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology

Research focus
neuroscience
image processing
development
neural evolution

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
squids
Amphioxus
lizards

Competing interests statement
Albert Cardona receives funding from the MRC LMB and from the Wellcome Trust. He has served as editor of Open Biology and as Reviewing Editor for eLife.
Kathryn Cheah

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China

Kathryn Cheah is a developmental geneticist and Jimmy & Emily Tang Professor in Molecular Genetics and Chair Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Hong Kong. She received her BSc Hons degree in Biology from the University of London and PhD in Molecular Biology from Cambridge University, U.K. After postdoctoral training at the University of Manchester and Imperial Cancer Research Fund in the UK, she joined the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on using functional genomics and mouse models to understand gene function and regulation, the associated gene regulatory networks and mechanisms of disease, with a focus on skeletal and inner ear development, congenital and common skeletal disorders. Notable contributions are the identification of SOX2 as essential for prosensory development in the inner ear, SOX9 as a key regulator of COL2A1 and the cartilage gene regulatory network, a lineage continuum for cartilage and bone cells and a causative mechanistic link between endoplasmic reticulum stress and skeletal disorders. She is an elected Fellow of the Global Science Academy, The World Academy Sciences (TWAS).

She was the founding President of the Hong Kong Society for Developmental Biology and the Hong Kong representative for the Asia-Pacific Developmental Biology Network and the International Society of Developmental Biology (2004-2013), elected President of the International Society for Matrix Biology (2006-2008), Senior External Fellow of the University of Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies (2011-2012) and elected member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Differentiation (2012-2018).

She brings editorial expertise to eLife having previously served as Associate Editor for Genesis, guest Associate Editor for PLOS Genetics, Asian Editor for Development Growth & Differentiation (2015-2016), editorial board member of Matrix Biology, BioEssays, Annual Reviews of Genomics & Human Genetics, and as Reviewing Editor of eLife.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
gene regulation and development
inherited and degenerative skeletal disorder
inner ear
matrix biology

Experimental organism
mouse
human

Competing interests statement
Kathryn Cheah receives research funding from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and the Hong Kong Health and Medical Research Fund. She is serving as a member of Hong Kong’s University Grants Council Biology Panel for the Research Assessment Exercise 2020. She currently also serves on the editorial boards of Scientific Reports, Genesis and Journal of Orthopaedic Research. She is also serving on the Hong Kong Advisory Board of the Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) and the GRC Conference Evaluation Committee.
Claude Desplan

New York University, United States

Claude Desplan, DSc, PhD is a Silver Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at NYU and an Affiliate Professor at the CGSB at NYU in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Desplan was born in Algeria and was trained at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in St. Cloud, France. He received his DSc at INSERM in Paris in 1983 working with M.S. Moukhtar and M. Thomasset on calcium regulation. He joined Pat O’Farrell at UCSF as a postdoc where he demonstrated that the homeodomain, a conserved signature of many developmental genes, is a DNA binding motif. In 1987, he joined the Faculty of Rockefeller University as an HHMI Assistant/Associate Investigator to pursue structural studies of the homeodomain and the evolution of axis formation.

In 1999, Dr. Desplan joined NYU where he investigates the generation of neural diversity using the Drosophila visual system. His team has described the molecular mechanisms that pattern the eye and showed how stochastic decisions contribute to the diversification of photoreceptors. It also investigates the development and function of the optic lobes where neuronal diversity is generated by spatio-temporal patterning of neuroblasts, a mechanism that also applies to cortical development in mammals. Recently, his lab has also provided a functional understanding of the neuronal and computational mechanisms underlying motion detection.

His laboratory also uses ‘evo-devo’ approaches to understand the mechanisms by which sensory systems adapt to different ecological conditions, from flies to ants to butterflies.

Dr. Desplan serves on multiple scientific advisory boards and committees for funding agencies. He is an elected member of the AAAS, of EMBO, the New York Academy of Sciences as well as the US National Academy of Sciences.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Neuroscience

Research focus
development neurobiology
evo-devo
vision
stochasticity in development
rhodopsin
aging and caste determination (ants)

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
ants
insects
butterflies
wasps
flies

Competing interests statement
Dr. Desplan has been a member of the Board of Reviewing Editor for Science for the last 10 years (non-renumerated). He is an academic editor for PLOS Biology and PLOS Genetics (non-renumerated). Dr. Desplan occasionally serves as academic editor for other scientific journals (e.g. PNAS). He is a consultant for the Khalifa Center for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology Al Ain, UAE. Dr. Desplan receives funding from the NIH and the NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.
Pankaj Kapahi

Buck Institute for Research on Aging, United States

Dr Kapahi received his PhD from the University of Manchester, where he worked with Tom Kirkwood. He did his postdoctoral work with Seymour Benzer at Caltech and Michael Karin at University of California, San Diego. He joined the Buck Institute as an assistant professor in 2004.

Dr Kapahi has published more than 80 scientific papers and holds three current patents. He has been recognized for his scientific excellence with many awards, including the Eureka Award from the National Institute on Aging, a New Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation, a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, the Nathan Shock Young Investigator Award, and the Breakthrough in Gerontology and Julie Martin Mid-career awards from AFAR. Dr. Kapahi also initiated the first master’s degree course in gerontology at the Buck Institute. His lab studies the genetic mechanisms by which nutrients modulate aging and age-related disease.

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
aging
age-related diseases
nutrient signaling
metabolism
inflammation

Experimental organism
C. elegans
D. melanogaster
E. coli
mouse

Competing interests statement
Dr Kapahi currently hold grants from the NIH, Hillblom Foundation, Hevolution Foundation. He is also founder of a start up in the aging field, Juvify.
Jürgen Kleine-Vehn

University of Freiburg, Germany

Jürgen is a Professor at the University of Freiburg. He obtained his PhD for his work on plant cell polarity at the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) at the Ghent University. He has been an Associate Professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna and is now full Professor and chair of Molecular Plant Physiology (MoPP) at the University of Freiburg. He works at the interface of quantitative plant cell biology and developmental plant genetics, addressing plant growth control at a subcellular to organ scale.

Expertise
Plant Biology
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
plant hormones
growth control
plant architecture

Competing interests statement
Jürgen Kleine-Vehn has received and profited from funding by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), the European Research Council (ERC), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and the German Research Foundation (DFG). He is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Molecular Science and on the advisory board of Review Commons (operated by EMBO). He has been an elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Young Curia).
Sonia Q Sen

Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, India

Sonia Sen is a senior scientist at the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, Bangalore. Her research interests span neurodevelopment and behaviour. Her group studies how neural stem cells use and integrate spatial and temporal information to generate diverse cell types during development. Beyond neurodevelopment, her team explores how these diverse cell types form functional neural circuits and examines how these circuits give rise to appropriate behaviours, with a particular emphasis on mosquitoes.

Sonia did her PhD at the National Centre for Biological Sciences – TIFR, Bangalore and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oregon with Chris Q Doe.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
neural stem cells
neural circuits
evo-devo
mosquito

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
Anopheles stephensi
Lois Smith

Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital Boston, United States

Lois EH Smith MD, PhD is an ophthalmologist and clinician/scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. Her basic research work is in retinal neovascularization, both basic mechanism and treatment including diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

She has a long standing interest in eye diseases particularly retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, and AMD and in the mechanisms behind these diseases, particularly the underlying causes of neovascularization and the interactions between neurons and vessels. Many pathways that they have found have been translated into clinical trials, including replacement of IGF-1 in preterm infants and treatment of AMD with anti-VEGF antibodies in which they were the first to show the benefit of blocking VEGF in a mouse model of retinopathy. More recently Dr Smith's work has been interested in metabolic function in photoreceptors, particularly with respect to lipids. Photoreceptor metabolic dysfunction causes central vision loss in retinal degenerative diseases (including ROP) but is also implicated in age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Dr Smith is the recipient of the Friedenwald award, the Alcon Research Institute award, the Silverman award, and the Bressler Prize.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Medicine
Neuroscience

Research focus
age-related macular degeneration
diabetic eye disease
retinopathy
ocular disease
developmental neuroscience

Competing interests statement
Dr Smith has received funding from the National Eye Institute, Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund, the European Union, the Lowy Medical Research Institute, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Investigator Award, and the Alcon Award.Current editor roles include: Editor for Ophthalmology (Science), Editor for Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology, and Editor IOVS (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science).
Didier Stainier

Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Germany

Didier Stainier is the director of the Department of Developmental Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim (Frankfurt), Germany. He studied Biology in Wales, Belgium and the USA (Brandeis University) where he got a BA in 1984. He then received his PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Harvard University (1990) where he investigated the cellular basis of axon guidance and target recognition in the developing mouse brain with Wally Gilbert. After a Helen Hay Whitney postdoctoral fellowship with Mark Fishman at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), where he initiated the studies on zebrafish cardiac development, he set up his lab at the University of California, San Francisco in 1995, where he expanded his research to investigate questions of cell differentiation, tissue morphogenesis, organ homeostasis and function, as well as organ regeneration, in the zebrafish cardiovascular system and endodermal organs. In 2012, he moved to the Max Planck Institute where he continues to utilize both forward and reverse genetic approaches to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms of developmental processes during vertebrate organ formation, in both zebrafish and mouse. He is also an Honorary Professor at Goethe University in Frankfurt. In addition to research and mentorship awards at UCSF, he was a Packard Fellow, Basil O’Connor scholar, established Investigator of the American Heart Association, received the American Association of Anatomists Harland Mossman Award in Developmental Biology, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Academia Europaea and European Molecular Biology Organization, as well as an Officier de l’ordre de Léopold de Belgique.

Expertise
Developmental Biology

Research focus
developmental genetics
organogenesis
tissue morphogenesis
organ homeostasis

Experimental organism
zebrafish
mouse

Competing interests statement
Didier Stainier has received funding from the Max Planck Society, the European Research Council, the National Institutes of Health, the Packard Foundation, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the American Heart Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Leducq Foundation among others. In addition to being a Senior Editor for eLife, he currently serves as a Managing Editor for Mechanisms of Development, is on the editorial board of Development and FEBS letters, and is an International Strategic Advisor for the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Japan. He previously served as a Section Editor for BMC Developmental Biology and was the founding chair of the Dev1 study section of the National Institutes of Health.
Lori Sussel

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States

Lori Sussel is a Professor of Pediatrics and Cell & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. She also serves as Director of the Research Division at Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. She received her BA in Microbiology at the University of Texas, Austin and her PhD in Molecular Biology from Columbia University where she investigated transcriptional regulation in yeast. She pursued postdoctoral studies first with Dr. Barbara Meyer (UC Berkeley) and then Dr. John Rubenstein (UC San Francisco) where applied her interests in transcriptional regulation of cell fates to developmental processes. During her postdoctoral studies, she was funded by a Life Science Research Fellowship, a NIH F32 fellowship and the A.P Giannini Foundation. She began her independent career at the University of Colorado where she initiated her studies on the transcriptional regulation of pancreatic islet cell fates. In 2006, she moved to the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University where she continued to investigate pancreas development and islet biology, expanding her interests in transcriptional regulation to roles of long non-coding RNAs and RNA processing. In 2016, she returned to the University of Colorado to become the Director of Basic and Translational Research at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Her research continues to focus on pancreas development and islet biology using mice and human stem cell platforms to understand the molecular underpinnings of the islet dysfunctions associated with diabetes. In this position, she holds the Sissel and Findlow Family Chair in Stem Cell Biology.

Expertise
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
pancreas development
islet biology
transcriptional regulation
long non-coding RNAs
diabetes
developmental genetics

Experimental organism
mouse
human cells

Competing interests statement
Lori Sussel has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In addition to being a Senior Editor for eLife, she currently serves as an Associate Editor for Science Advances, and is on the editorial board of Developmental Biology and Life Science Alliance. She previously served as an Associate Editor for Diabetes and Pediatric Diabetes and was on the editorial board of Molecular Metabolism.
K VijayRaghavan

National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India

Vijay’s research aims to understand motor- and olfactory- circuit assembly: from deciphering how each component is made, interacts, and stabilises into functioning in the animal to allow behaviour in the real world. Related to the development of network function is its maintenance in the mature animal; another aspect of the work in the laboratory addresses how mature neurons and muscles are maintained. The laboratory uses a genetic approach, mainly using the fruit fly but also collaborating with those using mouse and cell-culture. VijayRaghavan is Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Science and Technology in the Department of Biotechnology. He temporarily holds additional charge of the Department of Biotechnology. VijayRaghavan’s research continues at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Bangalore, India, where he is Distinguished Professor. He studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. His doctoral work was at TIFR, Mumbai and postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology. VijayRaghavan is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Foreign Associate of the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Neuroscience

Research focus
genetics and genomics
developmental biology
neurogenetics
neurobiology
genetic basis of behavior

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
human
mouse

Competing interests statement
K VijayRaghavan currently receives research support from the Indo–French research agency CEFIPRA, and core support from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Previous support was from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), CEFIPRA, the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). VijayRaghavan serves on the Board of Governors of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the HHMI, Chair of the Research Council of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, and Member of the Governing Council of the National Institute of Immunology. He is Associate Editor of BMC Developmental Biology, and a member of the editorial boards of Development, Seminars in Developmental Biology, and Bioconcepts. He is Chair of the Board of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), a not-for-profit company of the National Centre for Biological Sciences and the stem cell institute, inStem, created to manage platform technologies and for technology transfer on the NCBS–inStem campus. He is a member of the board of the Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children, a not-for-profit school for disabled children in Chennai, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Human Frontier Science Program.
Richard M White

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Richard White, M.D., Ph.D, is a physician-scientist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College. He is interested in basic mechanisms underlying metastasis, using the zebrafish as a model system. His work has established numerous techniques for cancer modeling and high-resolution imaging in the fish. Using these tools, the lab is focused on the cross-talk between tumor cells and the microenvironment, and how this interplay influences metastatic success. His work has revealed novel interactions between melanoma cells and adipocytes in the microenvironment, and how neural crest programs play roles in melanoma progression. He has been awarded the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Pershing Square Foundation Award, and the Mark Foundation ASPIRE award.

Expertise
Cancer Biology
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Medicine

Research focus
development
neural crest
zebrafish
cancer
melanoma
metastasis
microenvironment

Experimental organism
zebrafish

Competing interests statement
Richard White receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Pershing Square Sohn Foundation, the Mark Foundation, the Melanoma Research Alliance, the American Cancer Society and the Harry J. Lloyd Foundation. He receives consulting fees from N-of-One, Inc.
Wei Yan

University of California, Los Angeles, United States

Wei Yan obtained his MD from China Medical University and PhD from University of Turku, Finland. After finishing his post-doc training at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, he started his own lab at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, where he rose through the ranks and eventually named University Foundation Professor, the highest honor the University bestows upon its faculty. In 2020, he joined The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA to direct the newly established National Center for Male Reproductive Epigenomics, one of the seven National Centers for Translational Research in Reproduction and Infertility (NCTRI) supported by the NICDH. The Yan lab works on genetic and epigenetic control of fertility and the epigenetic contribution of gametes to fertilization, early embryonic development, and adulthood health. He has so far published over 160 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters with over 12,00 citations.

His lab first put forward a novel idea for the development of non-hormonal male contraceptives: “Do not kill, but disable sperm”, which led to the discovery of TRIPTONIDE, a natural compound, as a reversible non-hormonal contraceptive agent in mice and monkeys, and established it as a drug candidate for “The Pill” for men. His lab also discovered the function of motile cilia in the reproductive tracts. In the male, motile ciliary beating function as an agitator to maintain the constant suspension of immotile testicular sperm during their transit through the efferent ductules in men. In the female, motile cilia in the oviduct/Fallopian tube are essential for oocyte pickup and fertility, but dispensable for embryo and sperm transport, which are mostly achieved through smooth muscle contraction. This discovery solved the long-standing controversy about the role of cilia beating vs. muscle contraction in gamete/embryo transport. His lab elucidated several novel mechanisms underlying the unique regulation of gene expression during the haploid phase of spermatogenesis, including global shortening of transcripts, delayed translation/uncoupling of transcription and translation, and dynamic changes in poly(A) length and non-A contents. His lab first discovered mitochondrial genome-encoded small RNAs (mitosRNAs), endo-siRNAs in the male germline and MSCI-escaping X-linked miRNAs. His lab was also among those that suggested critical functions of sperm-borne RNAs in supporting early embryonic development and epigenetic inheritance.

Wei Yan’s contributions to science have been recognized by several academic awards, including the 2009 Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) Young Investigator Award, the 2012 American Society of Andrology (ASA) Young Andrologist Award, the 2013 Nevada Healthcare Hero Award for Research and Technology, the 2017 University of Nevada, Reno Outstanding Researcher Award, the 2018 SSR Research Award and the 2020 Nevada System of Higher Education Research Award. Dr Yan was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2017 and SSR Distinguished Fellow in 2023.

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Medicine

Research focus
reproduction
epigenetic inheritance
regulation of spermatogenesis
female infertility
sperm biology
reproductive tract
ovarian biology
female fertility
contraceptive development
endocrine control of reproduction and fertility
germline epigenetic reprogramming
sperm-borne large and small RNA

Competing interests statement
The Yan lab receives funding from the NIH, Male Contraceptive Initiative, and John Templeton Foundation. Wei Yan serves on the Advisory Board of Contraceptive Accelerator Network, LLC. Wei Yan served as co-Editor-in-Chief of Biology of Reproduction (2017-2021). He serves as Associate Editor for Environmental Epigenetics and Reviewing Editor for FASEB journal.

Reviewing editors

Cynthia L Andoniadou

King's College London, United Kingdom

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Medicine
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
stem cells
endocrine
pituitary gland
adrenal gland
paracrine signalling
tumours

Experimental organism
human
mouse
H. Efsun Arda

National Cancer Institute, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
pancreas
single-cell
enhancers
chromatin
Erika A Bach

New York University School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
stem cell self-renewal
stem cell differentiation
cell competition
stem cell competition
transdifferentiation
stem cell aging
sex determination

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
Michel Bagnat

Duke University, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
morphogenesis
tubulogenesis
notochord
spine
gut
epithelial
polarity

Experimental organism
zebrafish
mouse
Hua Bai

Iowa State University, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
human cell culture

Experimental organism
Drosophila
Hugo J Bellen

Baylor College of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
neurobiology
human neurological disease
Alzheimer's disease
Parkinson's disease
diagnosis of human genetic diseases
fly technology
CRIMIC
MiMIC

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
mouse
Dominique Bergmann

Stanford University, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Plant Biology

Research focus
asymmetric division
cell fate
stomata
cell polarity

Experimental organism
A. thaliana
Brachypodium
Jimena Berni

University of Sussex, United Kingdom

Expertise
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology

Research focus
locomotion
developmental biology
central pattern generators
neurogenetics
neurobiology
genetic basis of behavior

Experimental organism
Drosophila
Joshua Brickman

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology (DanStem), Denmark

Expertise
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
embryonic stem cells
endoderm
pluripotency
lineage priming
transcription factors

Experimental organism
mouse
Xenopus
Caroline E Burns

Boston Children's Hospital, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
cardiopharyngeal
cardiovascular disease modeling
cardiac development
cardiac function
cardiovascular regeneration
cardiomyocyte proliferation

Experimental organism
zebrafish
Michael Buszczak

UT Southwestern Medical Center, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
stem cells
germ cells
ribosomes
mRNA translation
chromatin
DNA damage
meiosis

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
human
Anne E Carlson

University of Pittsburgh, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
fertilization
ion channel regulation
biophysics
sperm
calcium
eggs
zinc
TMEM16A
Frank Chan

Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
evolution
adaptation
complex traits
transcriptional regulation
non-model organisms
selective sweeps
single-cell techniques
haplotypes
genomes
genetic mapping

Experimental organism
mouse
Xin Chen

Johns Hopkins University, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression

Research focus
germ cells
stem cells
asymmetric cell division
histones
epigenetics
transcription

Experimental organism
C. elegans
D. melanogaster
Tom H Cheung

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR China

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
tissue regeneration
biological aging
adult stem cells
muscle stem cells
satellite cell
post-transcriptional regulation
epigenetic regulation
microRNAs
RNA binding proteins
Ariel Chipman

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology

Research focus
segmentation
Cambrian explosion
evo-devo
body plan evolution
head evolution
molting

Experimental organism
arthropods
Filippo Del Bene

Institut de la Vision, France

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
zebrafish
visual system
optogenetics
neural circuits
behavior
brain function
genome editing
Danelle Devenport

Princeton University, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
cell polarity
planar cell polarity
epidermis
skin
oriented cell divisions
morphogenesis
epithelia

Experimental organism
mammals
Xin Duan

University of California, San Francisco, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Neuroscience

Research focus
synapse formation
superior colliculus
optic neuropathy
retinal circuitry
transsynaptic tracing
cadherins
optic nerve regeneration
Stephen C Ekker

Mayo Clinic, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
gene editing
morpholinos
transposons
mitochondria
health engineering

Experimental organism
zebrafish
John Ewer

Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience
Genetics and Genomics
Medicine

Research focus
animal behaviour
neuropeptides
circadian clocks
insect endocrinology

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
Bo Gao

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Medicine

Research focus
planar cell polarity
scoliosis
skeletal disease
wnt signaling
Arjumand Ghazi

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Immunology and Inflammation
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
aging
geroscience
reproductive aging
longevity
healthspan
oocytes
innate immunity
inflammation
proteostasis

Experimental organism
C. elegans
Drosophila melanogaster
mouse
Ilona C Grunwald Kadow

Technical University of Munich, Germany

Expertise
Neuroscience
Genetics and Genomics
Developmental Biology

Research focus
circuit neuroscience
behavior
in vivo imaging
chemosensation
olfactory system
neuromodulation
metabolism
internal state

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
mouse
P Robin Hiesinger

Institute for Biology Free University Berlin, Germany

Expertise
Cell Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Neuroscience

Research focus
brain development
synapse
neurogenetics
membrane trafficking
Drosophila
neurodegeneration
computational modelling
live-cell imaging

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
organoids
Benjamin M Hogan

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology

Research focus
lymphatics
lymphangiogenesis
angiogenesis
vascular cell biology
pericytes

Experimental organism
zebrafish
Catarina Homem

Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
neurobiology
stem cells
neural stem cells
tumor metabolism
transcription regulation
cellular metabolism
cell fate regulation
tumors
neuron differentiation
maturation

Experimental organism
Drosophila
Valerie Horsley

Yale University, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
epithelial stem cells
adipocyte stem cells
adipose tissue
epithelial-mesenchymal interactions
mechanical regulation of tissues
tissue regeneration
Patrick J Hu

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Medicine
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics

Research focus
signal transduction
genetics
development
aging
cancer
endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis
dauer

Experimental organism
C. elegans
Maneesha S Inamdar

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, India

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
pluripotent stem cells
hematopoiesis
vascular
organelles
mitochondria
vesicular trafficking
cytoskeleton
protein sorting
Arezu Jahani-Asl

McGill University, Canada

Expertise
Cancer Biology
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
glioblastoma
stem cells
mitochondria
transcription
mental retardation
neurodegeneration
cancer

Experimental organism
mouse
Loydie A Jerome-Majewska

McGill University, Canada

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology
Medicine
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
splicing
protein transport
neural crest cells

Experimental organism
mouse
Shingo Kajimura

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
bioenergetics
metabolism
metabolic disease
adaptation
adipose tissue biology
Koichi Kawakami

National Institute of Genetics, Japan

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Neuroscience

Research focus
organogenesis
disease models
biotechnology
optogenetics
transposable elements
behavior
brain function
neural circuits

Experimental organism
zebrafish
Johnny Kim

TRON gGmbH, Germany

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
stem cells
regeneration
cardiovascular biomedicine
muscle biology
reprogramming
aging
totipotency
pluripotency
cell therapy
gene therapy

Experimental organism
mouse
human
Paschalis Kratsios

University of Chicago, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Neuroscience

Research focus
neuronal development
transcription factors
chromatin factors
neuronal identity
genetics

Experimental organism
C. elegans
mouse
Vira Kravets

University of California, San Diego, United States

Expertise
Computational and Systems Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
computational modeling
network theory
quantitative microscopy
Shigehiro Kuraku

National Institute of Genetics, Japan

Expertise
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Developmental Biology

Research focus
molecular evolution
gene family evolution
developmental roles of duplicated genes
early vertebrate genome evolution

Experimental organism
reptiles
cyclostomes
chondrichthyans
Cristina Lo Celso

Imperial College London, United Kingdom

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
hematopoietic stem cell function
intravital microscopy
hematopoietic system
Falong Lu

Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Chromosomes and Gene Expression

Research focus
epigenetics
RNA modifications
imprinting
stem cells
reprogramming
poly(A) tail
early embryo
chromatin modifications

Experimental organism
mouse
human
Pablo A Manavella

Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral , Argentina

Expertise
Plant Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Genetics and Genomics
Developmental Biology

Research focus
small RNA
microRNAs
RNA biology
chromatin
epigenetics
transposable elements
gene silencing
miRNA biogenesis

Experimental organism
A. thaliana
Lolitika Mandal

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, India

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
development
hematopoiesis
cardiogenesis
metabolism
signalling
stem cell biology

Experimental organism
Drosophila
Juan P Martinez-Barbera

University College London, United Kingdom

Expertise
Medicine
Cancer Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
brain
pituitary
tumour and cancer
embryos
cell senescence
senescence-associate secretory phenotype (SASP)
senolytic

Experimental organism
mouse
Sigolène M Meilhac

Imagine-Institut Pasteur, France

Expertise
Developmental Biology

Research focus
morphogenesis
patterning
left-right asymmetry
heart development
cardiac cell lineages
congenital heart defect
mouse genetics

Experimental organism
mouse
Simón Méndez-Ferrer

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Expertise
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Developmental Biology
Cancer Biology
Medicine

Research focus
haematopoietic stem cell niche
mesenchymal stem cells
myeloproliferative neoplasms
acute myeloid leukemia
neuroimmunology
Yuji Mishina

University of Michigan, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
craniofacial development
neural crest
osteoblasts
osteoclasts
growth factor signaling
cartilage development
cell fate specification
skeletogenesis
Binyam Mogessie

Yale University, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression

Research focus
meiosis
mitosis
oocytes
actin
microtubules
chromosome segregation
chromosome cohesion
chromosome organisation
kinetochores
aneuploidy
fertility

Experimental organism
mouse
human
pig
Tina Mukherjee

Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), India

Expertise
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Developmental Biology

Research focus
metabolism
myeloid development and function
stem cells and development
neuro-immune crosstalk

Experimental organism
drosophila
mouse
mosquitos
Marcos Nahmad

Centre for Research and Advanced Studies, Mexico

Expertise
Computational and Systems Biology
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Physics of Living Systems

Research focus
growth control
drosophila genetics
developmental patterning
mathematical modelling
Roel Nusse

Stanford University, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
wnt signaling
stem cells
tissue repair

Experimental organism
mouse
Izuchukwu Okafor

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria

Expertise
Cancer Biology
Cell Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Developmental Biology
Epidemiology and Global Health
Genetics and Genomics
Medicine
Neuroscience

Research focus
developmental biology
reproductive biology
gene expression
molecular biology
public health
reproductive health
medical education
anatomical sciences
neuroreproduction
Noriaki Ono

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology

Research focus
cartilage development
craniofacial development
skeletal stem cells
bone development
bone regeneration
bone & cartilage tumor
Michael Perry

University of California, San Diego, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression

Research focus
evo-devo
developmental neurobiology
stochasticity in development
sexual dimorphism
cell fate specification
sensory system evolution

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
butterflies
insects
mosquitos
house flies
Samuel Pleasure

University of California, San Francisco, United States

Expertise
Medicine
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience

Research focus
circuit development
hippocampus
cerebral cortex
epilepsy
human
forebrain development
autoimmune encephalitis
morphogenic signals
mouse
multiple sclerosis
Douglas Portman

University of Rochester, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience

Research focus
neurogenetics
behavioral genetics
behavioral plasticity
hypothamalus sex differences
neuronal development

Experimental organism
C. elegans
Jeremy Reiter

University of California, San Francisco, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
cilia
Olivia S Rissland

University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Genetics and Genomics
Developmental Biology

Research focus
post-transcriptional regulation
RNA
translation
maternal-to-zygotic transition
small RNAs
RNA decay

Experimental organism
drosophila
Sarah Russell

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Immunology and Inflammation

Research focus
cell fate determination
T cells
cell polarity
synapse
asymmetric cell division
Scribble

Experimental organism
mouse
James R Sellers

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
myosin
Eve Seuntjens

KU Leuven, Belgium

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Neuroscience
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
Development of the nervous system
neural stem cells
evolution of the nervous system
nothobranchius furzeri (African turquoise killifish)

Experimental organism
cephalopod
killifish
Mark S Sharpley

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, United Kingdom

Expertise
Developmental Biology

Research focus
developmental metabolism
preimplantation
trophoblast
metabolomics
NAD+/NADH
metabolic control
cell fate
Jiwon Shim

Hanyang University, South Korea

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Immunology and Inflammation

Research focus
hematopoiesis
innate immunity
hemocyte
development
signaling
inter-organ communication

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
Yuko Shimada-Niwa

University of Tsukuba, Japan

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology

Research focus
ecdysteroid biosynthesis
prothoracic gland
parasitoid wasp
parasitism
oogenesis
planar cell polarity

Experimental organism
Drosophila melanogaster
Roy V Sillitoe

Baylor College of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology

Research focus
cerebellum
dystonia
tremor
electrophysiology
mouse genetics
development

Experimental organism
mouse
Mahendra Sonawane

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
morphogenesis
epithelial organisation
epithelial cell polarity
cytoskeleton and membrane projections
epidermis development

Experimental organism
zebrafish
Yan Song

Peking University, China

Expertise
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Chromosomes and Gene Expression

Research focus
developmental neurobiology
cell fate decisions
epigenetics
stem cells
neurodevelopmental disorders
transcriptional control
cell fate memory

Experimental organism
mouse
D. melanogaster
Pablo H Strobl-Mazzulla

Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús, Argentina

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
vertebrate development
microRNAs
epigenetics
neural crest
placodes
Rio Sugimura

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China

Expertise
Developmental Biology

Research focus
hematopoiesis
human pluripotent stem cells
lineage tracing
organoid
embryology
niche

Experimental organism
human
mouse
Owen Tamplin

University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States

Expertise
Genetics and Genomics
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
hematopoeitic stem cells
microenvironment
zebrafish
blood development
Kristin Tessmar-Raible

University of Vienna, Austria

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Neuroscience

Research focus
chronobiology
marine
photobiology
rhythms
clocks
physiology

Experimental organism
platynereis
clunio
danio
medakafish
oryzias
Fadel Tissir

University of Louvain, Belgium

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience

Research focus
neural progenitors
neuronal migration
polarity
axon guidance
neurodevelopmental disorders
ciliogenesis
cortical malformations
gene/genome editing

Experimental organism
mouse
Ivan Velasco

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Neuroscience
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
embryonic stem cells
induced pluripotent stem cells
neural stem cells
CNS development
Parkinson's disease
animal models of neurological diseases
cell grafting
axonal guidance
regeneration
Pablo Wappner

Instituto Leloir, Argentina

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology

Research focus
cell differentiation
signaling pathways
hypoxia
autophagy
adaptation to stress

Experimental organism
drosophila
Doris Wu

National Institutes of Health, Section on Sensory Cell Regeneration and Development, United States

Expertise
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology

Research focus
inner ear development
vestibular and cochlear patterning and development

Experimental organism
chicken
mouse
zebrafish
Jian Xu

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, United States

Expertise
Cancer Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
hematopoiesis
erythropoiesis
myeloid leukemia
epigenetics
transcription regulation
enhancer
metabolism

Experimental organism
human
mouse
Yukiko M Yamashita

HHMI, University of Michigan, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
stem cell niche
asymmetric cell division
satellite DNA
germline immortality
ribosomal DNA

Experimental organism
D. melanogaster
Han Zhu

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States

Expertise
Cell Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Developmental Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
pluripotent stem cells
human embryonic cells
human organoid
stem cell derived pancreatic islets
pancreatic islet development
pancreatic islet function
diabetes
gene regulation
single-cell genomics
Michael E Zuber

SUNY Upstate Medical University, United States

Expertise
Developmental Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Research focus
neurogenesis
visual system development
visual system regeneration
transcription factors

Experimental organism
Xenopus