" Adhesive Cell Polarity: Anchored Signaling Domains Weather the Mitotic Storm "

About 40,000 children are born with heart defects every year. In order to treat these conditions we must gain a comprehensive understanding of heart formation, including the very first steps taken by heart cells in early embryos. We study this question in the model organism Ciona intestinalis. Ciona embryos are very simple both cellularly and genetically and yet they are closely related to the vertebrates, using many of the same heart genes as human embryos. This simplicity allows us to observe the exact behavior of individual heart cells and study how heart genes influence these behaviors. Our goal is to use what we learn in Ciona to guide heart research in other model organisms such as frogs, chicken and mice, eventually providing the framework required for the diagnosis and treatment human heart defects.For More information, please visit his website at :http://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/brad-davidson