Chitnis, Ajay

Our lab studies how interactions between cells during early development lead to the self-organization of a functional nervous system in zebrafish. The laboratory uses a combination of cellular, molecular and genetic tools to identify genetic regulatory networks that direct early development in the nervous system. We also build computational models to understand how interactions identified through biological experiments lead to the emergence of patterned development. Current projects are directed toward understanding the genetic regulatory networks that coordinate cell fate and morphogenesis during development of the zebrafish hindbrain and the lateral line system.