Wound healing in the inflamed colon proceeds with the formation of a structure known as “metaplasia,” which is typically considered pathological but may actually have some protective functions.
We are a tight-knit team of scientific investigators who study how abnormal patterns of organ regeneration contribute to chronic disease, with particular focus on inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Using interdisciplinary experimental methods from genetics, cell biology, microscopy, computer science, and physics, we are mapping the functions of stem cells during disease and finding new ways to correct potential defects, with the ultimate goal of curing these debilitating diseases. To do this, we examine in exquisite detail fundamental processes through which stem cell populations interact with each other and their surrounding bodily environment, including the microbiome, organ “scaffolds,” and “policing” immune cells. There is a place in our laboratory for investigators of diverse training and intellectual backgrounds, as we move to develop new, fundamental insights into mammalian biology and regenerative medicine to alleviate a major public health problem.