Home Department: Biology
Mentor: Tim Stearns, Biology and Genetics

2018 and 2019 Research Project: Primary cilia are antenna-like signaling organelles present in most human cells. Cilia control cell proliferation through the Hedgehog signaling pathway. Disruption of the signaling function of cilia in brain cells is the cause of medulloblastoma, the most common childhood brain cancer. Anaïs will bring together cell biology and genetic approaches to investigate how cilium-based signals control proliferation and differentiation, with the long-term goal of informing the development of therapeutics for ciliary signaling diseases such as medulloblastoma.