My projects focus on the neural crest and peripheral glia lineages (Schwann cell precursors and Schwann cells) and their multipotency as well as elaboration of function and the role of extrinsic or intrinsic signaling. Specifically, I am interested in the mechanisms driving differentiation or maintenance of stem cell-like properties of embryonic progenitors. Lastly, I am studying the subdivision of roles of fully differentiated Schwann cells along peripheral axons and the cross-talk between the peripheral glia and other cell types of the peripheral nervous system (neurons and neuroendocrine cells).