Biology
The long-term goal of my research program is to elucidate the roles of peripheral and central glia and glial-glial interactions during PNS development, maintenance and disease/injury. Using Danio rerio (zebrafish) as a model system (and to a lesser extent, mouse), my lab combines genetic and pharmacological perturbation, single cell manipulation, laser ablation/axotomy and in vivo, time-lapse imaging to directly and continuously observe glial cell origins, behaviors and interactions in an intact vertebrate. The vast majority of research investigating the development and regeneration of the PNS has focused on axons and their closely associated glia, known as Schwann cells. However, peripheral nerves are composed of at least six main elements, all of which are required for the efficient function of the nervous system, but some of which are virtually ignored (for example, perineurial glia and motor exit point (MEP) glia).