Physiology and Genetics of the Pituitary Gland in Development, Aging and Disease.

The pituitary gland is a neuroendocrine gland that controls multiple physiological processes including growth, pregnancy and lactation, reproduction, stress, and metabolism. Pituitary cells adapt and change in different stages of life and my lab is interested in the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control pituitary cell proliferation, specification, and function and allow such responsiveness and adaptability.

I started my lab in September 2023 and am interested in all aspects of pituitary genetics and physiology! My research utilizes in vivo mouse models, in vitro human embryonic stem cell models, and single-cell genomic technologies. Please reach out to me if my research program interests you, if you’re interested in collaborating, or if you have any questions or ideas. 

Current projects include:

1)     Pituitary stem cell aging. Pituitary stem cells in mice are multipotent and can differentiate into new hormone-producing cells under increased demand but gradually lose that capability as mice age. We are interested in using in vitro human embryonic stem cells to model human pituitary cell specification and functionally test candidate gene expression changes in aged vs young mouse in vivo pituitary stem cells.  Pituitary stem cells express receptors for vitamin A and folic acid, two important dietary components – how do they regulate pituitary stem cell function throughout life? Using in vitro cultured hES-derived pituitary cells, we can investigate the molecular mechanisms downstream of these receptors activating.

2)     Genetics and mechanisms of pituitary tumorigenesis. There are multiple types of pituitary tumors and are quite common (as many as 1 in 50 people have some form of pituitary tumor!) Although they do not cause medical issues most of the time, when they do it is difficult to predict their progression and recurrence after surgical resection.  Tumors can vary in excess hormone production (none to several), size (micro- to macroadenoma), and age of onset (pediatric v aged). We are developing a clinical collaboration with the Stony Brook Pituitary Care Center with Dr Raphael Davis (neurosurgeon) and Dr Igor Kravets (endocrinologist) to build a research collection of pituitary tumor samples to study DNA and RNA changes that may be driving tumorigenesis.

Other research interests include:

·       Genetics of pediatric hormone deficiencies

·       Mechanisms of thyrotrope cell specification

·       Developmental genetics of pituitary organogenesis