Epithelia are the most common tissue type in animals. They can be found at organ boundaries, where they perform functions including absorption (the intestine), secretion (glands), filtration (kidneys), and gas exchange (the lungs). Epithelia are typically organized into sheets of cells that are one-cell thick, and our lab aims to understand how these sheets develop.

The Finegan Bergstralh Lab is currently working on two problems. 1) How do epithelial cells figure out the right direction in which to divide? 2) What happens when they don’t? These questions sit at the intersection of basic cell and developmental biology, biomedical research, and the physical sciences, so we take an interdisciplinary approach to answering them; our lab members come from several scientific backgrounds and use a range of techniques that includes traditional genetics, protein biochemistry, advanced light microscopy, and computational modelling.

We are recruiting graduate students: Graduate student projects are tailored to suit a student’s individual research interests, expertise, and career goals. We’d love to discuss opportunities for new lab members! We are committed to fostering a diverse and welcoming research community.