About the Lab:

The olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity is the peripheral organ for smell, housing primary sensory neurons that detect inspired odors and relay input to the olfactory bulbs of the brain. The olfactory neurons are vulnerable to damage and are replaced via basal epithelial stem cell populations. Despite a remarkable repair capacity, acquired damage can lead to olfactory loss (aging-related changes, post-viral damage, trauma). Our lab is interested in understanding olfactory basal stem cell regulation, damage and repair, and regulation of olfactory neurogenesis.  As a surgeon-scientist, I treat patients with olfactory disorders, and in the lab we study human olfactory biopsy samples. In addition, we use mouse models of olfactory injury. Current projects involve culture expansion of neuro-competent olfactory basal stem cells, understanding how Polycomb complexes may regulate aspects of olfactory neurogenesis, and determining mechanisms involved in olfactory disorders due to viral injury, neurodegenerative disorders and presbyosmia in humans. Our lab has pioneered single cell RNA-seq approaches to study human olfactory biopsy samples.

We’re looking for motivated young scientists at the postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate levels.