Current projects:
• Dissection of molecular pathways and regulatory networks underlying sweat gland, hair and mammary gland development and evolution.
• Uncovering the mechanistic basis for functional variation and context specificity of developmental skin enhancers.
• Regeneration of mammalian skin appendages in vitro.
• Discovery and functional modeling of evolutionarily-significant human genetic variants.
 Hair and sweat glands in mouse feet |  Human eccrine gland |  single transcriptomic analysis of developing mouse skin |
|---|---|---|
 Genetic basis for the sweaty human apeRepeated mutation of an Engrailed 1 (EN1) skin enhancer during human evolution drove increased density of sweat glands in human skin |  in vivo enhancer screeningcross section of mouse skin infected enhancer reporter virus showing basal-layer specific activity |  En1 expression in mouse ventral limb |
 Mouse mammary gland |  Developing skin appendages |  Sweat gland openings human digit |