Our lab studies centrosomes, non-membrane bound organelles that serve as the cell’s main microtubule (MT) organizing center (MTOC). Our efforts are focused on an outstanding question in the field – how does the centrosome tune its MTOC activity to support different functions? We use a combination of genetics, molecular biology, CRISPR gene editing, super-resolution microscopy, and other cell biological approaches. Most importantly, we employ the model organism Drosophila in combination with a powerful method of generating new alleles to investigate tissue specific functions. This approach has uniquely positioned my lab to discover unappreciated roles for centrosome proteins and is guiding our current research aimed to explore the etiology of centrosome- and cilia-related human diseases such as microcephaly and infertility.
