Arkhat Abzhanov

Assistant Professor of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology

Phone: 617-496-9704
E-mail:
Office: 4105 BioLabs, 16 Divinity Ave

Lab Website: http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/abzhanov

Dr. Arkhat Abzhanov and his group are interested in a variety of topics related to the vertebrate craniofacial evo-devo with a particular focus on the cranial skeletal structures.  We use molecular, cellular and developmental genetics approaches to study how cranial cells undergo skeletal differentiation, especially in the context of the dermal intramembranous bone unique to the cranium and how this process changes in evolution and can be important in understanding human congenital diseases.  Research projects in the lab cover a diverse set of topics from beak evo-devo in Darwin’s Finches and other birds, skeletal cell differentiation from cranial neural crest, and patterning of the cranial skeletomuscular system to the roles for miRNAs and signaling molecules in intramembranous bone morphogenesis.

Recent Publications

Abzhanov, A., Cordero, D.R., Sen, J., Tabin, C.J. and Helms, J.A. (2007) Cross regulatory interactions between Fgf8 and Shh in the avian frontonasal prominence. Congenital Anomalies, in press

Abzhanov, A., Rodda, S.J., McMahon, A.P., and Tabin,C.J. (2007). Regulation of skeletogenic differentiation in cranial dermal bone. Development (in press).

Abzhanov, A., Kuo, W.,P., Hartmann, C., Grant, R., Grant, P.R. and Tabin, C.J. (2006). The Calmodulin pathway and the evolution of elongated beak morphology in Darwin’s Finches. Nature 442, 563.

Grant, P.R., Grant, B.R., and Abzhanov, A. (2006) A developing paradigm for the development of bird beaks. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 88, 17.

Abzhanov, A., Protas, M., B. Grant, R., Grant, P.R. and Tabin, C.J. (2004). Bmp4 and Morphological Variation of Beaks in Darwin's Finches. Science, 305, 1462.

Abzhanov, A., and Tabin,C.J. (2004). Shh and Fgf8 act synergistically to drive cartilage outgrowth during cranial development. Dev Biol. 273, 134.

Abzhanov, A., Tzahor, E., Lassar, A.B. and Tabin, C.J. (2003) Dissimilar Regulation of Cell Differentiation in Mesencephalic (Cranial) and Sacral (Trunk) Neural Crest Cells. Development 130, 4567.

See complete publications list.

Courses Taught

OEB 115. Evolutionary Developmental Biology in Animals

OEB 261r. Developmental Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change