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Wright Lab

Eric Bankaitis

Graduate Student, Cell & Developmental Biology

My research focuses on the lineage allocation behavior in the “trunk” progenitor epithelium during the Secondary Transition (E13.5-17.5) of mouse pancreas development.  The trunk is a specialized embryonic tissue responsible for the generation of endocrine and duct cell types, but numerous questions remain regarding precisely how this occurs.  I am particularly interested in understanding more about the morphological dynamics and cellular composition of the trunk, as well as what signaling mechanisms control flux from the progenitor state to the committed endocrine state.