The precise and robust regulation of gene expression is a cornerstone for complex biological life. Research in our laboratory is focused on understanding how regulatory information encoded by the genome is integrated with the transcriptional machinery and chromatin context to allow for emergence of form and function during human embryogenesis and evolution, and how perturbations in this process lead to disease.

We are employing a broad combination of genomic, genetic, biochemical, biophysical, single-cell and embryological approaches in a number of cellular and organismal models to investigate functions of the non-coding parts of the genome, understand regulatory mechanisms underlying cellular plasticity and differentiation, investigate how quantitative changes in gene expression dictate differences in human traits, and study craniofacial development, evolution and disease.