The Simoes-Costa lab focuses on decoding the molecular programs that orchestrate cell differentiation in the vertebrate embryo.

We employ functional genomics to characterize the gene regulatory circuits that control cell state transitions during embryonic development. We are particularly interested in how networks of regulatory genes operate in space to divide the early embryo into distinct fields of progenitor cells. Ultimately, our goal is to recapitulate developmental programs in vitro to engineer cell types for repair and regeneration.

Our model of choice is the neural crest, a stem cell population that plays a crucial role in the genesis of the vertebrate body plan. Neural crest cells emerge from the central nervous system to give rise to intricate structures like the craniofacial skeleton and the peripheral ganglia. They have served as an essential developmental model system due to their motility and ability to form various cell types. We approach the neural crest as a system for integrative biology, surveying how multiple layers of regulation work together to control cell identity and behavior.

Biosketch

Marcos Simoes-Costa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Systems Biology and the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Sao Paulo, Marcos moved to the California Institute of Technology as a Pew Latin American Fellow. His postdoctoral training focused on the gene regulatory networks that drive the formation and differentiation of neural crest cells. After starting his laboratory at Cornell University in 2016, Marcos moved to Harvard Medical School, where his team studies the spatial control of gene expression during embryonic development.