My research investigates how the brain and spinal cord is built in the vertebrate embryo, using the zebrafish embryo central nervous system as a model to understand some of the earliest and most fundamental steps in brain development. My approach combines cell biology and developmental neurobiology, using techniques such as advanced in vivo imaging and sub-cellular manipulations. Ultimately, my aims are to understand:

• How individual cell behaviours are regulated and integrated to build a working brain.
• The role of extracellular signalling, formation and remodelling during neuronal development.
• How neuronal differentiation is regulated in time and space.

Please see my Research Staff Profile for more detail

Find out more about my research:

Jon Clarke

Key publications:

• Hadjivasiliou et al., 2019. Basal Protrusions Mediate Spatiotemporal Patterns of Spinal Neuron Differentiation. Developmental Cell.
• Campo-Paysaa et al., 2019. Generation of the squamous epithelial roof of the 4th ventricle. eLife.
• Buckley et al., 2016. Reversible Optogenetic Control of Subcellular Protein Localization in a Live Vertebrate Embryo. Developmental Cell.
• Alexandre et al., 2010. Neurons derive from the more apical daughter in asymmetric divisions in the zebrafish neural tube. Nature Neuroscience.
• Tawk et al., 2007. A mirror-symmetric cell division that orchestrates neuroepithelial morphogenesis. Nature.

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Key collaborators:

• Dr Paula Alexandre, Institute of Child Health, University College London
• Dr Clare Buckley, University of Cambridge
• Dr Richard Wingate, King's College London
• Dr Claudio Araya, Universidad Austral de Chile