Nagif Alata Jimenez, Ph.D.

Research

In the Simoes-Costa lab, I will investigate the molecular programs that guide cell specialization during embryonic development. During development, a single fertilized egg gives rise to all the tissues of the body. This transformation is orchestrated by a series of molecular switches that direct cells to become more specialized, resulting in the various tissues and organs in an organism. As a graduate student, I determined that enzymes that chemically modify DNA through a process called DNA methylation play an essential role in shaping cell identity in the neural crest—a transitory multipotent stem cell population that gives rise to facial structures and components of the heart and nervous system. Now, using cutting-edge techniques in cell and molecular genetics and genome editing, I will assess how these enzymes work together to regulate the turnover of DNA methylation and examine how an imbalance in their activity alters gene expression and cell specialization in the neural crest cells and their progenitors (neural plate border cells). My work could lead to therapeutic interventions for congenital disorders arising from defects in neural crest development, including cleft lip and palate defects, and conditions that affect hearing and intestinal function.