Advisory Board and Editors Developmental Biology
Kenneth De Baets
I am a paleobiologist. My main research focuses on reproductive strategies and macroevolution, particularly on the contributions of biotic interactions (e.g., parasitism) and abiotic factors (e.g., climate) in controlling evolutionary and diversity patterns. To this end, I work with a variety of approaches that combine research on fossil molluscs, coprolites and fieldwork with large-scale quantitative analyses. Other interests are quantitative methods to study biostratigraphy, intraspecific variability and paleobiology in general. My main taxonomic expertise is on invertebrates, mainly (extinct) cephalopod mollusks and parasitic helminths. The promotion of diversity and young scientists as well as scientific collaboration and reproducibility in paleontology are particularly close to my heart.
Wendy Dean
Senior Research Scientist, Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute
Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, UK.
Sule Dogan
Dr. Sule Dogan has BSc in Biology from Ankara University, MSc in Embryology and another Master’s degree in science education, both from Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey. After completing her Andrology and Embryology training, she worked at the IVF Clinic of Dokuz Eylul University Medical School between 2007 and 2009. She completed her PhD in Life Sciences/ Genetics program at Mississippi State University. Dr. Dogan joined IVF Michigan Fertility Centers as an embryologist in 2013, started serving as the quality control and laboratory supervisor in 2015 and then became the laboratory director in 2019. She has opened up new andrology laboratories, trained many andrologists and embryologists. She is currently serving as the director of laboratory operations in many locations of IVF Michigan and IVF Ohio Fertility Centers. Dr. Dogan is a certified by ABB as Technical Supervisor in Andrology and Embryology, and as High Complexity Lab Director (HCLD). She has many publications in international journals, including many book chapters. Dr. Dogan has been serving as a reviewer for scientific journals and conferences since 2010.
Pascal Dollé
Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Group leader (Developmental Biology and Stem Cells Department), IGBMC, France. Member of the Institut Universitaire de France.
Tushar K. Dutta
I am a Senior Scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, involved in pursuing basic and applied research in the field of Nematology and Entomology.
As an alternative to Bt Cry toxins for insect pest management, a number of novel bacterial protein toxins (Txp40, TcaB) derived from an insect-parasitic bacterium Photorhabdus akhurstii (symbiont of nematode Heterorhabditis indica) were characterized. The mode of action and pathogenesis process of these toxins were investigated in different lepidopteran insects including Galleria mellonella, Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura and S. exigua. The potential receptor proteins and their binding sites for these toxins were unravelled from the insect midgut epithelial cells.
My other research interests include molecular basis of plant-nematode interaction. Using RNAi, functional analysis of several plant parasitism processes was deciphered including the role of Mi-cpl-1 in metabolic process, FLP and NLP neuropeptides in neuromusculation process, ODR and TAX proteins in chemotaxis process, cell wall degrading enzymes and various MSP effectors in infection process of plant nematodes. I have contributed in understanding the genetic basis of nematode resistance in rice via genome-wide association mapping coupled with omics-driven strategies. I am currently pursuing genome editing research for developing nematode resistance by adopting CRISPR-Cas9 strategy in Arabidopsis, rice and tomato.
Alexander Ereskovsky
I am an invertebrate embryologist, and my main areas of interest are different topics of sponges regeneration, embryonic, postembryonic development and the evolution of sponge’s morphogenesis. I'm also interested in the sponge’s biodiversity, taxonomy and phylogeny. I am currently a Senior Researcher at French National Centre for Scientific Research in Marseille and Professor in St-Petersburg State University in Russia
Jorge MO Fernandes
Professor in Genomics and Molecular Biology. My main research interests are antimicrobial peptides, microRNAs and the epigenetic regulation of myogenic gene networks by environmental factors, such as temperature and photoperiod.
David E.K. Ferrier
Reader in Biology and Director of the Scottish Oceans Institute, at the University of St Andrews.
The focus of our research is the connection between the content and organisation of genomes to the evolution of development (evo-devo). We utilize a variety of organisms in our research (including amphioxus, sea squirts, polychaetes and priapulids), chosen from key points in the phylogeny of the animals to enable reconstruction of the ancestral conditions at major nodes in the animal kingdom; the origin of bilaterians, protostomes, deuterostomes, chordates and vertebrates.
Brigitte Galliot
MD, PhD, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science, Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Elected Vice-Dean. Member of Academia-net. Post-doctoral stage at the ZMBH, Heidelberg, Germany; PhD in Life Sciences in Strasbourg, France; medical studies in Paris, France. Since my post-doc time, I study the molecular and cellular basis of regeneration, neurogenesis and aging and I use Hydra, a freshwater cnidarian polyp, as model system.
Roi Gazit
Roi Gazit, PhD., is Principal Investigator of Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC) transcriptome laboratory at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He is a member of the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN), and the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells at BGU. Roi earned a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in life science and developmental biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He obtained PhD. in immunology, under supervision of Ofer Mandelboim, studying NK-cell in vivo, including the generation of the first NK specific mouse model and elucidation of novel NK-cell abnormalities in human patients. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the Harvard Medical School, at Derrick J. Rossi laboratory, focusing on the identification and utilization of HSCs’ genes, including reprogramming of committed blood cells into HSCs using defined transcription-factors and generation of a novel HSC-reporter mouse. His laboratory at the Ben-Gurion University is studying HSCs’ transcriptome along normal development, during immune-challenges, and the direct reprogramming of adult blood cells into HSCs.
Angela Giangrande
Angela Giangrande is a full professor (DR1 CNRS) at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Strasbourg, FRANCE. She is a member of the Society of Neuroscience and of the Genetics American Society. She is also a USIAS fellow (University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced studies).
Sam Griffiths-Jones
Professor of Computational Biology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester. Manages the miRBase database of microRNA sequences. Founded the Rfam RNA families database. Interested in RNA structure, function and evolution.