Possible Rotation Projects:
- 3D imaging and morphological analysis of brain organoids
- Building new optogenetic methods to control cardiac electrophysiology
Training Technologies Used:
- Stem cells, organoids, synthetic biology, microscopy, image analysis, mathematical modeling
- Ph.D. Systems Biology, Harvard University- 2016
- B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University- 2010
Ishihara K, Mukherjee A, Gromberg E, Brugués J, Tanaka EM, Jülicher F. Topological morphogenesis of neuroepithelial organoids. Nat Phys. 2023
Krammer T, Stuart HT, et al. Clonal neural tube organoids self-organise floorplate through BMP-mediated cluster competition. bioRxiv 2023
Ishihara K, Tanaka EM. Spontaneous symmetry breaking and pattern formation of organoids. Current Opinion in Systems Biology. 2018
My group takes a synthetic approach to study how cells form tissues. “Synthetic” embodies the experimental creation of states of physical organization and gene expression that push a multicellular system to all possible extremes. The synthetic approach allows us to discover novel regulatory molecules, dormant genetic programs, and general physical principles, which we will critically evaluate as next generation strategies for organ engineering. My group will quantitatively capture 3D tissue morphogenesis through imaging, computation, and molecular profiling. We will use this knowledge to develop genetic and chemical tools to engineer in vitro tissues such as human brain organoids and cardiac organoids.
