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Program in Developmental Biology

The Vanderbilt University Program in Developmental Biology offers a stimulating and supportive environment for researchers to study pattern formation, cellular differentiation and morphogenesis during the developmental process.

Membership in the Developmental Biology Program is currently over 200 researchers, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, technicians and support personal across the School of Medicine and Arts & Sciences campuses.  Program members utilize many different approaches in their attempt to answer developmental questions based on their particular field of study. This mixing pot of scientific disciplines has given our members the freedom to adopt an interspecies approach to their research.

As our members work to answer challenging developmental questions they are encouraged to participate in weekly activities that are sponsored by the Program.

Group photograph taken at the 2019 PDB Retreat

Group photograph taken at the 2018 PDB Retreat

To find out more, please visit the Program in Developmental Biology website.

 

PDB Annual Retreat

Join us September 12-13, 2024

Keynote Speaker: Mary Dickinson, Ph.D.

Longstanding champion of rare-disease research. Extensive, highly recognized record of studying cardiovascular disease, particularly congenital birth defects. Co-principal investigator of the renowned NIH-funded Knockout Mouse Phenotyping Program, in collaboration with the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium.

Dickinson uses advanced imaging technology to capture high-resolution data on early-stage organ development and provide critical insights into their regulatory networks. She worked with companies such as Zeiss to improve imaging tools—with associated discoveries on mechanical forces regulating genetic programs in combination with intercellular signaling. Her multi-disciplinary approaches combine mouse genetics, developmental biology, imaging and bioengineering to understand the mechanisms underlying the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and cardiovascular birth defects.

Under Dickinson’s leadership of Baylor’s research mission, around 30 chairs and center directors achieved 37% growth in sponsored awards, with ~$700 million in awards in 2023. She was institutional official for Baylor’s human subjects and animal research programs.

Dickinson earned her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, doctorate from Columbia University (with Andy McMahon) and carried out her post-doctoral fellowship at California Institute of Technology (with Scott Fraser). She has >150 publications, holds several patents and disclosures for new microscope technologies, and has received numerous awards. Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. In 2023, she was elected to the Society for Developmental Biology Academy, and also elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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