Gary Gaufo, PhD

Associate Professor

The long-term goal of Dr. Gaufo's laboratory is to understand the mechanisms that regulate plasticity in living organisms. In its simplest definition, plasticity is the capacity of single- or multi-celled organisms to adapt to their environment. Using the mouse as a model organism, the lab's research focuses on neural crest and preimplantation embryonic cells to study plasticity. Neural crest cells are multipotent progenitor stem cells that are unique to vertebrates. In addition to giving rise to most peripheral neurons and glial cells, neural crest cells give rise to an array of cell types that make up the head. Preimplantation embryonic cells are the ultimate in vertebrate cellular plasticity; they have the potential to differentiate into both embryonic and non-embryonic tissues, which includes the placenta. These broad categories of cell types thus provide a solid platform the dissect the molecular basis of cellular plasticity in a mammalian model organism.

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