Arif Kirmizitas

I am a developmental biologist with a keen interest in how cell fate decisions are governed at both intercellular and intracellular level. I did my PhD with Jerry Thomsen at SUNY Stony Brook, studying cell signalling events in germ layer formation during gastrulation. Later, I joined Roger Patient’s lab at the WIMM to continue working on signalling pathways and transcriptional regulatory networks but this time with a particular focus on cardiovascular and blood development using aquatic models, Xenopus and zebrafish.

Recently, I joined the Porcher lab on a BHF funded project to study cell fate priming and determination mechanisms during mammalian development. The main aim of my project is to develop a versatile genetic system to label and track cells starting from anytime point in any tissue up to adulthood by utilizing DNA barcoding and editing tools. We anticipate that this technology will enable us characterize the earliest cell fate decisions and probe cell signalling dynamics in much greater details than possible today. Ultimately, this knowledge will help design protocols aiming at producing clinically relevant cell types from hES and hiPS cells.