How tissues shape themselves during development
Official title: Mechanisms coordinating cell behaviors within tissues during development
Funded at Columbia Univ New York Morningside · NIH-11393710 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Scientists study how living tissues take on their proper shapes during development by looking at how groups of cells move and coordinate their activities.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia Univ New York Morningside NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2020 |
| Project end | June 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $434,914 |
| NIH project number | 5R35GM138380-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11393710 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Not applicable to patients directly, as the work is basic science in a model organism (fruit fly).
✕Less likely to help
No direct patient participation is anticipated in this basic-science project.
What this research studies
This project uses the fruit fly as a model to understand how cells coordinate their movements and mechanical signals to form healthy tissue structures. It will develop new tools to control and measure how cells push, pull, and communicate to shape tissues. The aim is to map how apical and basal cell surfaces, plus mechanical cues, work together across tissues during morphogenesis. Findings could illuminate why developmental defects occur and suggest new ways to approach tissue engineering and cancer biology.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Better understanding of how tissues organize could lead to insights for preventing birth defects and improving cancer biology, with potential long-term benefits for regenerative medicine.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work in developmental biology shows that coordinated cell movements are essential for tissue formation, with ongoing research expanding this understanding.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia Univ New York Morningside
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kasza, Karen — Columbia Univ New York Morningside
- Study coordinator: Kasza, Karen
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Anga Center for Community Health and Well-being
A community-focused program from Columbia University aims to strengthen mental health and resilience in East Africa and other at-risk communities by partnering with local centers and using evidence-based approaches.
-
Anga Center for Community Health and Well-being: building resilience to extreme weather in Africa and beyond
A program to help communities cope with the mental health effects of extreme weather by partnering with African regions and local centers to develop practical, evidence-based support.
-
A crowdsourced, survivor-led approach to boost HIV/STI/HCV testing and overdose-prevention service use for sex trafficking survivors in NYC
A NYC-based study tests a survivor-driven digital messaging approach and at-home tests to help sex trafficking survivors increase HIV/STI/HCV testing and use overdose-prevention resources.
-
How RNA binding proteins shape when and how genes are used
A research project at Columbia aims to map how RNA binding proteins interact with RNAs to control gene activity, with potential insights for diseases involving gene regulation.
-
Crowdsourced digital messaging to boost syphilis and HIV testing for women in NYC and rural Alabama
A community-driven project tests whether crowdsourced digital messages can encourage women, especially women of color and Native American women, to get syphilis, HIV, and STI tests.
-
Infant brain stiffness imaging using a sleep-friendly MR elastography framework
A new MRI-based method called NeoWave aims to map how young infant brains develop by measuring tissue stiffness during natural sleep.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.