To shape the embryo requires the coordination of cell behaviour within the same population but also the integration with different cell populations in three dimensions. The zebrafish embryo is a superb model system, allowing us to capture the moment of morphogenetic events in real time at high resolutions, based on sophisticated genetic manipulations. 

Currently, we investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which to regulate the interface of two distinct populations in order to address the following questions. 

1) How do epithelial cells co-ordinate their shape changes and propagate tensile forces across the tissue boundaries in morphogenesis? 

2) How do normal cells detect potentially transformed cells in a simple epithelium and eliminate them from the epithelium at the initiation of carcinogenesis?