Hisham Bazzi, PhD

Research and mentoring in Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology have always been my main interests and passion. I started my studies in Biology in Lebanon at the American University of Beirut (1996-2001). Then, I moved to New York City where I did my PhD in Genetics & Development at Columbia University (2001-2007) and trained as a postdoc at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2008-2015). Since 2015, I have been a Group Leader at the University of Cologne. Recently, I moved to Ann Arbor (Fall 2023) to establish a group as an Associate Professor in CDB. The Bazzi Lab research is focused on how signaling pathways regulate the cell cycle and cell fate in early embryonic development and skin development, using the mouse as a genetic model.

Our research is centered on the integration of signaling pathways, cell cycle and cell fate in early embryonic development and skin development in the mouse, as a mammalian genetic model (www.bazzilab.com). To address our questions, we use state-of-the-art genetic, biochemical, time-lapse imaging and omics approaches in vivo, ex vivo in skin explant cultures or in vitro in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). To functionally assess the candidates, we use CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing in vivo and in vitro to engineer knockout and knockin alleles, including new fluorescent reporters. Our goal is to dissect the mechanistic links between signaling pathways and cell fate in development, which are usually coopted or disrupted in diseases.