We have a core interest in understanding the basis of the evolutionary divergence of regenerative capacity among species. Adult humans and other mammals do not have the ability to regenerate large portions of complex tissues after injury. In contrast, some lower vertebrates such as urodele amphibians (newts and salamanders) and zebrafish are endowed with extraordinary regenerative capacity. We are studying how evolutionary genetic changes account for these differences. We have approached this question by developing transgenic zebrafish models that are ...

We maintain a close connection with real world medical problems and many of our group and collaborators are clinicians and clinician scientists. Through our daily treatment of and interaction with children and adults in the Craniofacial Center and the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic, we understand where bridges need to be built between science and clinical practice and focus on evaluating current clinical approaches and on developing new ones where there is need. [DZ2] https://craniofacialcenter.ucsf.edu/clinical [DZ4] https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/clinics/plastic-and-reconstructive-surgery-clinic ...

Our laboratory maintains a strong translational focus and a primary goal is to develop approaches for clinical applications of human skeletal muscle stem cells (satellite cells). Towards this end we have an active effort in preclinical studies of human satellite cell transplantation. The experiments leverage our clinical expertise and access to tissue with our scientific foundation in mouse skeletal muscle regeneration and stem cell biology. We have recently analyzed the frequency of satellite cells in diverse human muscles, and developed ...