Very recently I moved to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine as a Research Assistant Professor. My research goals are: i) to unravel the molecular mechanism of fetal gonadal development, and ii) to develop biomarkers for detecting fetal origins of environmentally-induced adult reproductive diseases.
Generally environmental factors do not have the ability to promote DNA sequence mutations. The molecular factors around DNA that regulate genome activity independent of DNA sequence are called epigenetic factors. Recent findings suggest that epigenetic effects are mitotically stable and can pass along environmentally-altered molecular signatures during cell proliferation. My research at UF College of Veterinary Medicine will be focused on epigenetic mechanisms involved in environmentally-induced adult onset reproductive diseases.
The current research model is mouse, but I am planning to use zebrafish as an additional model to elucidate mechanisms of environmentally-induced diseases. Zebrafish has been a reliable non-mammalian vertebrate model for studying the mechanisms of developmental origins of diseases. Scientific resources, such as genome information, antibodies, genetic manipulation facilities, etc are easily available.
Here is the picture of University of Florida campus in Gainesville. It is one of the biggest ones in the USA.
