My group uses a combination of systems biology approaches, systematic experimental manipulation, and live-cell imaging to study the process of cell polarization. Cell polarity is critical to animal development and tissue functioning, and defects in polarity are an important factor in the development of cancer and other diseases. Cell polarity is mediated by a complex network of interactions between several groups of proteins located at the cell surface. Using C. elegans as a model system, we aim to understand three aspects of polarity:

1. The network of functional interactions between polarity regulators that maintains polarity in epithelial tissues.
2. The direct consequences of loss of polarity to the behavior and fate of cells
3. The connections between cortical polarity and other cellular processes that contribute to cell polarity.