Advisory Board and Editors Developmental Biology
Shalu Jhanwar
Dr. Jhanwar’s research interests lie at the interface of epigenomics, genomics, bioinformatics, and machine learning. She has extensive experience in plant and animal sciences, development biology, and cancer genomics and epigenomics. She has developed machine learning-based tools and bioinformatic analysis pipelines integrating genomic and epigenomic information. In the past, she has identified biomarkers differentiating wild and cultivated varieties of plants using comparative genomic approaches. Upon integrating transcriptomics and chromatin accessibility, presently she is studying the regulatory dynamics underlying structural diversity during organogenesis.
Stefano S.K. Kaburu
Dr Kaburu is currently a Senior Lecturer in Conservation Biology at Nottingham Trent University, in the UK. Dr Kaburu completed his PhD in Anthropology in 2014 at the School of Anthropology and Conservation of the University of Kent in the UK, during which he studied grooming behaviour and cooperation in wild chimpanzees.
In 2014-2015, he was a post-doc in Dr Stephen Suomi’s Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, at the National Institutes of Health in the US where he examined the development of social cognition in infant rhesus macaques. Between 2016 and 2018 he was a post-doctoral fellow in Dr Brenda McCowan’s Laboratory at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of California in Davis, during which he studied the drivers and outcome of human-macaque interactions in Northern India.
His main areas of research interests are animal (especially primates) social behaviour and conservation, human-wildlife interactions and infant development
Alexandre H Kihara
Alexandre H. Kihara is a Tenured Neuroscience Professor at Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Dr. Kihara is one of the leader scientists in the growing field of electrical synapse plasticity. He is currently editor of scientific periodicals, including PLOS ONE and Scientific Reports. His studies led to pioneer reports on changes of electrical synapses in the visual system triggered by ambient light conditions. His research extends to multiple aspects related to cell communication mediated by connexins (Cx) and pannexins (Panx) and their functional roles in the development, plasticity, and degeneration of the nervous system. In his lab, data from brand new technologies such as recording and stimulation using high-density 4096 channels multielectrode arrays (HD MEA) are combined with tissue and cell culturing, calcium-activity imaging, molecular and cellular techniques, and specific methods developed to study neuronal and glial cell activity synchronization mediated by electrical synapses. In addition, he also has solid publication record and collaborations on miRNA, cell cycle control, stem cell biology, and apoptotic signaling.
Judith Klumperman
Professor of Cell Biology, Chair of the Cell Biology Department University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht, Head of the Cell Microscopy Center (CMC) of the UMC Utrecht.
Editorial boards of: Traffic, Histochemistry and Cell Biology, Biology of the Cell, Molecul
Daisuke Koyabu
Dai Koyabu is an Associate Professor of Anatomy at the City University of Hong Kong. He was educated at Kyoto University, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Tokyo, and had postdoctoral training at University of Zurich. His research focuses on the anatomy, evolution and development of the mammalian cranium. Editorial Board of Mammalian Biology, Mammal Study, and Morphomuseum. Recommender for PCI Paleontology. Executive Committee Member of the International Society of Vertebrate Morphology (ISVM).
M Fabiana Kubke
Senior Lecturer at the School of Medical Sciences (Department of Anatomy with Radiology) and member of the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Interested in Neuroethology, Brain Evolution, Evo-Devo and auditory systems. Former Grass Fellow and Editorial board member of Brain Behavior and Evolution. Currently serving as an Academic Editor in PLOS ONE, and Chair of the Advisory Panel of Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand.
Takeshi Kurita
I am a Professor of Biology at the Institute of Science Tokyo. My research interest lies in the molecular and cellular basis of development and reproduction, two fundamental processes for all multicellular organisms. I am particularly interested in the cell and tissue communications that regulate these processes. In embryonic development, interactions between tissues of different cell lineages drive organ formation by activating genetic and epigenetic programs for tissue patterning and cellular differentiation. Tissue interaction also plays a fundamental role in mammalian reproduction as it mediates the actions of sex steroid hormones in reproductive organs. Deregulation of signaling pathways that control tissue communications could lead to conditions such as cancer. Thus, I also investigate the molecular pathogenesis of disorders in reproductive and hormone-target organs. Since mammalian development and reproductive functions are controlled by complex crosstalk among multiple tissues, organs, and systems, we primarily use in vivo mouse models for the investigation.
Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the fundamental process of life is a goal of our research. In addition, our research also aims to improve human health through translational research based on the knowledge obtained through basic research.
Elizabeth G. Laird
My research goals are to characterise the mechanisms of collagenous tissue development, repair and renewal. Current research interests include understanding the dynamics of collagen synthesis and turnover, the role of stem cells in musculoskeletal homeostasis and the role of glucose in musculoskeletal ageing. Tissues of interest are primarily tendon and ligament but include cartilage, bone, cornea and intervertebral disc, as well as fibrotic tissue.
This research is important because age-related degeneration and loss of function in musculoskeletal tissues is associated with chronic joint pain, limited movement, tendinopathy, ligament damage, intervertebral disc degeneration and osteoarthritis. There is both a loss of tissue integrity and propensity to fibrosis indicating that homeostasis of the collagenous extracellular matrix is lost with age. Understanding the molecular processes that create functional musculoskeletal tissues during development and growth, and which malfunction or cease to operate in aged tissues is key to developing new strategies for tissue engineering, to activate intrinsic stem cell repair mechanisms and to develop beneficial pharmaceutical, dietary or exercise-based interventions in an increasingly aged society.
Liudmila P Leppik
Assistant Director, Frankfurt Initiative for Regenerative Medicine, J.W. Goethe-Universität, Friedrichsheim Orthopedic University Hospital.
Dr. Leppik’s research background is in the fields of molecular biology and virology in Russia and Germany. Specifically her research focused on human genome activity and regulation of gene expression during tumor genesis and development and differentiation. Her current research at FIRM focuses on tissue development and regeneration.
Stefano Lorenzetti
Dr. Stefano Lorenzetti is a Senior Scientist within the Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health at the Italian National Institute of Health.
His current main interests are on the development of both in vitro tools and functional biomarkers to screen the endocrine disrupting effects of environmental and dietary contaminants.
Paula Mabee
Professor of Biology, University of South Dakota; Past President, Society of Systematic Biologists; Elected Fellow, AAAS.
Julin N Maloof
Professor of Plant Biology and member of the Genome Center, University of California, Davis.
Elected Fellow, AAAS
Postdoctoral training at The Salk Institute. Doctoral Training at UCSF