The Gibson lab utilizes a range of understudied cnidarian animals to investigate the cellular, molecular, and evolutionary basis for a range of fundamental biological processes, with an emphasis on animal development and regeneration.

Our research plan leverages the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, which occupies a crucial phylogenetic position in the animal tree of life.  Using this versatile laboratory model organism, we have developed substantial genomic resources and an incisive new genetic toolkit that allow us to functionally interrogate the regulation of development, regeneration, stem cells and neurobiology in vivo.  In parallel, the Gibson lab is pioneering new methods for research on reef building corals, relatively close relatives of Nematostella (Montipora capitata and Acropora cervicornis).  In the long term, our goal is to initiate mechanistic studies of coral-algal symbiosis and to develop new models for comparative studies on the evolution of fundamental biological processes in early branching animals.