Organ Development

Deneen Wellik, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Wellik did her undergraduate work at Washington University in St. Louis, received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Hector DeLuca, PhD and performed postdoctoral research at the University of Utah with Dr. Mario Capecchi, PhD before starting her independent laboratory in 2003. For more than 20 years, Dr. Wellik and her laboratory has been investigating the role of Hox genes in various aspects of organogenesis. While initial work from her laboratory focused on embryonic roles, significant attention has now turned to postnatal and adult roles for these genes in regeneration and repair. She also serves as the director of the Center for Organogenesis at the University of Michigan. This interdisciplinary center has more than 140 members across four schools and 26 departments, highlighting the importance of organogenesis in many aspects of human health and disease. In this capacity, she directs an NIH supported Training Program in Organogenesis and directs a course, Organogenesis: Stem Cells in Development to Regenerative Biology. She has also served as an Lead Instructor at the Cold Spring Harbor summer course, Mouse Development, Stem Cells and Cancer.

1. Chasing Mavericks: The quest for defining developmental waves of hematopoiesis Taylor Cool and E. Camilla Forsberg 2. Signals and forces shaping organogenesis of the small intestine Sha Wang, Katherine D. Walton and Deborah L. Gumucio 3. Consider the lung as a sensory organ: A tip from pulmonary neuroendocrine cells Ankur Garg, Pengfei Sui, Jamie M. Verheyden, Lisa R. Young and Xin Sun 4. Molecular regulation of mammalian hepatic architecture Stacey S. Huppert and Makiko Iwafuchi-Doi 5. Connecting muscle development, birth defects, and evolution: An essential role for muscle connective tissue Elizabeth M. Sefton and Gabrielle Kardon 6. Vascularizing organogenesis: Lessons from developmental biology and implications for regenerative medicine Edward Daniel and Ondine Cleaver 7. Pancreas organogenesis: The interplay between surrounding microenvironment(s) and epithelium-intrinsic factors Corinna Cozzitorto and Francesca M. Spagnoli 8. Gametogenesis: A journey from inception to conception Hailey Larose, Adrienne Niederriter Shami, Haley Abbott, Gabriel Manske, Lei Lei and Saher Sue Hammoud 9. Genetics of scapula and pelvis development: An evolutionary perspective Mariel Young, Licia Selleri and Terence D. Capellini 10. Eye organogenesis: A hierarchical view of ocular development Joel B. Miesfeld and Nadean L. Brown 11. Fluid forces shape the embryonic heart: Insights from zebrafish Pragya Sidhwani and Deborah Yelon 12. New perspectives on the mechanisms establishing the dorsal-ventral axis of the spinal cord Madeline G. Andrews, Jennifer Kong, Bennett G. Novitch and Samantha J. Butler 13. Development, repair, and regeneration of the limb musculoskeletal system Jane Y. Song, Kyriel M. Pineault and Deneen M. Wellik