Exploring the Role of Wnt Signaling in Pluripotent Stem Cells

The main focus of Dr. Karl Willert’s lab is to understand how the extracellular environment regulates cell fate choices. His lab utilizes human pluripotent stem cells—both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (hESC and iPSC)—to explore early developmental fate choices with particular emphasis on the role of the Wnt signaling pathway. A long-term goal of the Willert lab is to direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into specific lineages. To this end, the Willert lab together with Dr. Shu Chien in Bioengineering has developed a novel cellular microarray technology, which allows for the screening of the effect of thousands of combinations of biological molecules on any cellular process of interest.