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Dr. Mihaela (Ela) Serpe is a tenure-track investigator in NICHD. She leads the Unit on Cellular Communication, in the Cellular Biology and Metabolism Program.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Unit on Cellular Communication, headed by Mihaela Serpe, investigates molecular mechanisms that regulate cellular signaling during development using the Drosophila system.
This group focuses on signaling by TGF-beta growth and differentiation factors and on genes that modulate the function and distribution of the signaling ligands in time and space. Secreted BMP-binding proteins such as Short gastrulation and Crossveinless-2 have versatile effects on signaling, and promote or inhibit signaling depending on context. We use a combination of computational, biochemical, and genetic approaches to describe, in molecular terms, how these different modulators can function and attain remarkably context-specific gains or losses in signaling. We are also interested in the role of the cell surface in modulating local activation of TGF-beta-type signaling. Our goal is to provide a molecular description of how signaling is modulated outside the cell and how it has been adapted for different roles during development and evolution.
DIR Home
Ten research programs comprised of roughly 102 units and sections constitute the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and include a total of 85 tenured and tenure-track investigators, with a total administrative and staff complement of approximately 1275.
To ensure the birth of healthy babies, to ensure the health of infants who develop into adulthood, and to optimize the health of women, the DIR focuses its research effort on the acquisition of information that will enhance our understanding of the biology of development and reproduction. The research program emphasizes the importance of fundamental investigations into the physics, chemistry, and biology of cells, their component parts, and the processes that govern and regulate their function. As part of their investigative focus, the scientific researchers of the DIR accord primary importance to the transmission of new information to future generations of scientists.
Location
The majority of the DIR laboratories are located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, and nearby in Rockville, Maryland. An additional research facility is located in Poolesville, Maryland. The research program in Perinatal Research and Obstetrics is based in Detroit, Michigan.
