Our lab is interested in the formation and regeneration of epithelial structures. We are using the zebrafish pronephros as a model to study kidney development, kidney injury and repair, and human ciliopathies. The transparency of the zebrafish embryo in combination with a large collection of fluorescent transgenic zebrafish lines enables us to apply live imaging at a single cell resolution to study cellular behavior in development and disease. In our functional studies, we combine single cell RNA sequencing with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing to address fundamental questions of kidney disease pathogenesis. Our work aims at identifying novel therapeutic targets for human renal diseases through the discovery of evolutionary conserved pathological and repair mechanisms.

Applications for MD theses are always welcome. Co-authoring manuscripts is encouraged and supported. Students motivated to spend a year in the lab will be given the opportunity to develop independent projects and are strongly encouraged to work towards first author manuscripts.