Team

	Maite Aguado is interested in biodiversity, evolution and development of different groups of invertebrates. Her research currently focusses on the postembryonic development of Syllidae, a particularly abundant group of annelids. She also integrates gene expression information with morphological data to study sexual reproduction and regeneration of syllids.
	Tim Beißbarth develops bioinformatics methods to statistically analyze and understand high-dimensional omics data, such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. He applies methods from the area of machine learning and statistical computing to facilitate an integrative analysis and meaningful interpretation of different complex data types.
	Gregor Bucher is interested in the evolution of anterior pattern formation and the diversification of the brain. Further, he works on RNAi in pest control. His lab uses the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum as model system and applies methods, such as genome wide RNAi screening, binary expression systems, single cell sequencing and genome editing to answer his questions.
	Anne-Christin Hauschild uses machine learning approaches to analyze clinical, imaging and omics datasets for disease stratification and prediction. She establishes systems biology algorithms and employs network analyses to systematically uncover molecular mechanisms and pathways.
	Daniel J. Jackson is interested in the molecular mechanisms of molluscan shell formation and the way in which these processes evolved. His efforts are focused on the identification of the complete set of biomineralizing effector genes in the pulmonate gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis, and on identifying the gene regulatory and cellular communication events that coordinate the initiation of shell formation in the early snail embryo. To this end his team is developing methods to characterize gene function in this nontraditional model organism.
	Peter Lenart studies how the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton organizes oocytes and early embryos; how cytoskeletal elements position centrosomes, nucleus, the division plane and stored mRNAs in these exceptionally large cells, and how this leads to the establishment of the primary animal-vegetal polarity. The lab uses marine model systems including the starfish, Patiria miniata and the jellyfish, Clytia hemisphaerica that are exceptionally suited for high-resolution live cell microscopy assays, which are frequently combined in his lab with quantitative image analysis and biophysical modeling to reveal conserved principles of cellular organization.
	Marieke Oudelaar studies the 3D organization of the genome in the nucleus and how regulatory elements function within this context to control gene expression. To this end, her lab develops high-resolution Chromosome Conformation Capture (3C) techniques, which they use in combination with other genomic techniques, genetic perturbations, and computational approaches. They focus on the interplay between genome organization and regulation during differentiation and development, and how perturbations in these processes contribute to disease.
	Nico Posnien studies mechanistic links between genetic variation and morphological diversity. The size and shape of a complex organ is defined during its development by the action of gene regulatory networks, which ensure the tightly controlled expression of developmental genes. Changes in the function and regulation of those genes during development account for variation in various morphological traits. To identify the molecular changes underlying morphological evolution in flies, beetles and spiders, his group combines genomics, quantitative genetics, developmental genetics and geometric morphometrics approaches.
	Jochen Rink and his team are fascinated by tissue formation. What determines shape, size and proportions of developing tissues? How is the balance set between addition of new cells and removal of old ones? Or during regeneration, how can the remaining tissue rebuild exactly the body parts that have been lost due to injury? He addresses these questions in a fascinating new model system with a long lab history, planarian flatworms.

	Mette Handberg-Thorsager studies how a complex organism develops from a single cell. She uses the embryo of the ragworm Platynereis dumerilii to understand the interplay between molecular and cellular-physical mechanisms acting during spiralian development. She combines mRNA injections, whole-embryo live-imaging, single cell sequencing and whole mount in situ hybridization to capture the dynamics and molecular players of development. Her specific aim is to shed light onto the contribution of cell division patterns and the differentiation path of a cell to the formation of spiralian cell types and tissues.
	Martin Haubrock studies gene regulation in eukaryotes. He develops methods to predict transcription factor binding sites, to analyze transcriptional networks and to model gene regulatory networks. To this end, he employs machine learning methods to analyze and interpret multi-omics data, such as DNA hypersensitivity assays, ChIP-seq and nucleosome positioning data.
	Conrad Helm is interested in the development and anatomy of organ systems in Annelida and related taxa. He uses a broad range of methods including immunohistochemical analyses, histological staining procedures and ultrastructural investigations, as well as gene expression analyses and phylogenomic approaches. With focus on invertebrate evolution, ontogenetic analyses of marine larvae and evolutionary questions related to the origin of organ systems and cell types, he is culturing and investigating several marine invertebrate species – a vast majority of them Annelida.
	Vera Terblanche Hunnekuhl is interested in the insect brain and ventral nervous system, with a focus on the genetic control of neurosecretory cell type specification. Her work focusses on the beetle Tribolium castaneum. However, with a strong interest in diverging developmental patterns, Vera has previously worked in a range of non-traditional model systems including annelids, amphipod crustaceans and centipedes. She combines genetic cell labelling techniques with analysis of gene function using RNAi, CRISPR-Cas9 and further molecular techniques.
	Carola Städele studies the sensory neurophysiology of host-seeking and host-preference in ticks. She combines neuroanatomy, electrophysiology, behavioral neuroscience and proteomics to investigate how ticks sense, process, and respond to environmental cues to eventually bridge the gap between fundamental neuroscience and applied research.
	Miquel Vila Farré is a zoologist with broad interest in animal diversity and life history traits. He uses the MPI collection of living wild planarians that contains species with varied ability to regenerate to study the evolution of regeneration in planarians. His work with that collection is combined with further field work to understand the evolutionary processes that shape planarian diversity.
	Ernst Wimmer studies a variety of developmental processes, their molecular basis, and their evolutionary conservation or diversification. In addition, he uses developmental genes and molecular biology tools to develop novel approaches to insect pest management. As animal model systems he uses a series of arthropods (e.g. insects, crustaceans).