"[Biologists are] never starting from ground zero anymore. What we do as developmental biologists is highly relevant to human developmental disorders."
— Dr. Cecilia Moens
/content/dam/www/people-profile-photos/m/cecilia-moens/cecilia-moens-d.jpg
Moens
Cecilia Moens, PhD
- Professor, Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutch
- Member, Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center (IIRC), Fred Hutch
- Raisbeck Endowed Chair for Basic Science, Fred Hutch
- Affiliate Professor, Biology Program, University of Washington
Background
Dr. Cecilia Moens studies how genes control the brain’s early development, setting up the complex structure found in adult brains. She uses zebrafish as a model system in which to understand how genes control important processes, such as how cells grow and change into new cell types, and how they move and communicate with each other in a 3D environment over time. These processes are exquisitely regulated in developing organs — but the same genes that control development can promote cancer when awakened in adult tissue. A deeper understanding of the genes that control these processes will also shed light on what goes awry in cancer. Dr. Moens also focuses on the relationship between neuron location, identity and function. She is working to understand how cranial motor neurons, which control muscles in the head and neck, move to the right location, acquire their identity as motor neurons and become part of a functional, muscle-controlling circuit.
Education
PhD, Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, 1993
BSc, Biology, York University, 1987