Ciliated preadipocytes are sited on blood vessels in fat pads. DNA is blue, vasculature is white, lipid droplets in mature fat cells is green, centrosome is green, and ciliary axoneme is red. Murine white adipose tissue. Adapted from Hilgendorf et al

Ciliated preadipocytes are sited on blood vessels in fat pads. DNA is blue, vasculature is white, lipid droplets in mature fat cells is green, centrosome is green, and ciliary axoneme is red. Murine white adipose tissue. Adapted from Hilgendorf et al. Cell (2019).

Mouse cell line model and primary isolated mouse and human preadipocytes are ciliated. DNA is blue, centrosome is green, and ciliary axoneme is red. Scale bar is 5µm. Adapted from Hilgendorf et al. Cell (2019).

Mouse cell line model and primary isolated mouse and human preadipocytes are ciliated. DNA is blue, centrosome is green, and ciliary axoneme is red. Scale bar is 5µm. Adapted from Hilgendorf et al. Cell (2019).

Ciliated preadipocytes are dotted along blood vessels in fat pads. DNA is blue, vasculature is white, centrosome is green, and ciliary axoneme is red. Murine mesenteric white adipose tissue. Adapted from Hilgendorf et al. Cell (2019).

Ciliated preadipocytes are dotted along blood vessels in fat pads. DNA is blue, vasculature is white, centrosome is green, and ciliary axoneme is red. Murine mesenteric white adipose tissue. Adapted from Hilgendorf et al. Cell (2019).

Fat pads expand by generating more fat cells and storing additional fat in existing fat cells. Balancing production of fat cells with lipid accumulation is critical for “healthy” fat. This micrograph shows a mouse gonadal fat pad with mature fat cell

Fat pads expand by generating more fat cells and storing additional fat in existing fat cells. Balancing production of fat cells with lipid accumulation is critical for “healthy” fat. This micrograph shows a mouse gonadal fat pad with mature fat cells visualized by phase microscopy and a population of ciliated fat progenitor cells (cilia in red and centrioles in green) located along the vasculature.

Our research examines how the body regulates stem cell differentiation to enable tissue maintenance, repair, and growth.

We want to understand the physiological cues that our stem cells sense to properly allow for tissues to expand and get repaired. A major focus of the lab is to study the molecular mechanisms regulating fat tissue, and how obesity-driven changes to fat tissue lead to co-morbidities such as diabetes and cancer. We use a combination of animal models and cell culture techniques. We are particularly interested in how the primary cilium, an antenna-like signaling organelle, senses and organizes signal transduction pathways to regulate stem cell fate.