Phone: (205) 934-0994
E-mail: byoder@uab.edu

Research/Clinical Interest Description: Cilia are microtubule based structures that can be motile or immotile, the latter being referred to as primary cilia. Although the primary cilium was once thought to be a vestigial organelle, recent studies have uncovered that cilia in mammals are required for viability and that dysfunction of the cilium is associated with a large number of developmental abnormalities and disease phenotypes. Projects in my laboratory utilize genetic screens in C. elegans to identify proteins required for ciliogenesis and ciliary protein localization. We are using C. elegans to assess how these genes function in pathways to regulate normal lifespan, energy homeostasis, and chemosensory and foraging behaviors. My group is also using transgenic and targeted mutant mice to evaluate the mechanisms by which the cilium regulates important developmental pathways (e.g. sonic hedgehog) and how loss of the cilium disrupts endochondrial bone formation, limb patterning and skin and hair follicle morphogenesis. Further, projects in my group are focused on understanding the connection between ciliary dysfunction and the development of cystic diseases in the kidney, liver, and pancreas, and the role of neuronal cilia in regulating satiation, addictions, and memory, behavior, and learning.