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Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology is committed to fostering an environment that embraces the diversity of our members and provides equitable access to people of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, sexual orientations, physical and neurocognitive abilities, and religions. An Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, consisting of members of Department Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows, Graduate Students, and Staff, is guiding our efforts to understand and address the interpersonal and structural biases within our Department, and to proactively remove barriers and create educational and professional opportunities for people underrepresented in science. We encourage you to read about the EDI Committee’s mission, and to learn more about its members and activities.

Recent News

Upcoming Events

Gord Fishell

BRB Auditorium
12:00pm – 1:00pm
December 4
Distinguished Seminar Series || Harvard University || CDB Seminar || "Making up your mind: the generation of interneuron diversity and their integration into cortical circuits"
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CDB Chalk Talk: Mullins Lab

BRB 251
12:00pm – 1:00pm
December 7
Open to PSOM community || BRB 251
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Jacob Hanna

BRB Auditorium
12:00pm – 1:00pm
December 11
Distinguished Seminar Series || Weizmann Institute of Science Israel || IRM Seminar || "Synthetic Ex Utero Embryogenesis: From Naive Stem Cells to Complete Embryo Models"
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CDB Faculty Talk: Celeste Simon

BRB 1101
12:00pm – 1:00pm
December 14
Open to CDB primary, secondary, and adjunct faculty || BRB 1101
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Yongsheng Shi

BRB Auditorium
12:00pm – 1:00pm
December 18
Distinguished Seminar Series || University of California, Irvine || GEN Seminar
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Selected Publications

Press Release

How Epigenetics Could Turn Things Around For Alzheimer’s Disease

How Epigenetics Could Turn Things Around For Alzheimer’s Disease

Shelly Berger is studying how genes are turned on and off in the brain, and how different patterns of gene activation could be related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Press Release
Penn researchers uncover epigenetic drivers for Alzheimer’s disease

Penn researchers uncover epigenetic drivers for Alzheimer’s disease

Research led by by Raffaella Nativio, former research associate in the Berger Lab, Shelley Berger, Daniel S Och Professor and director of the Epigenetics Institute,

Press Release
Pregnancy Complications in Assisted Reproduction Linked to a Specific Process

Pregnancy Complications in Assisted Reproduction Linked to a Specific Process

An experimental study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania links a specific procedure – embryo culture – that is part of the assisted reproduction process (ART) to placental abnormalities,

Press Release
New Liver Cancer Research Targets Non-Cancer Cells to Blunt Tumor Growth

New Liver Cancer Research Targets Non-Cancer Cells to Blunt Tumor Growth

“Senotherapy,” a treatment that uses small molecule drugs to target “senescent” cells, or those cells that no longer undergo cell division,

Press Release
How “Pioneer” Protein Turns Stem Cells into Organs

How “Pioneer” Protein Turns Stem Cells into Organs

Penn study uncovers key mechanisms behind embryonic development, moving the regenerative medicine field closer to developing cell therapies. You can find the Penn Medicine News Release here

Press Release
Researchers identify method to slow down cancer cells efforts to multiply

Researchers identify method to slow down cancer cells efforts to multiply

A study from Celeste Simon’s lab finds that turning on a key metabolic process could make sarcoma more susceptible to treatment.

Press Release