Our mission is to solve the gene-environment puzzle to prevent birth defects. Birth defects affect up 6% of newborns and cause tremendous individual, familial, and community burden.  For most birth defects, development of targeted prevention strategies has been stymied by biological and etiological complexity.  In fact, an estimated 75% are caused by the interaction of multiple, yet-to-be-identified predisposing genetic mutations and environmental influences. The goal of our research is to develop prevention strategies by identifying genetic and environmental factors that interact to cause birth defects.  We are particularly interested in understanding the mechanisms that guide craniofacial development and how these can be disrupted in causing common human birth defects like orofacial clefts of the lip and palate.

We are recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to investigate epigenetic mechanisms for birth defect prevention.  The successful candidate will apply cutting edge multi omics approaches to clinically relevant mouse models and advance their understanding of developmental biology, stem cell biology and epigenetics.  Interested applicants can find more information here.