Short Bio Team Leader
Group Leader: Comparative developmental biology and regeneration
Background
- PhD, University of Cambridge, UK / 1994
- Post-doc, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany / 1995-1997
- Group leader at IMBB Crete, Greece / 1999-2012
- Group leader at IGFL, Lyon, France / since 2012
Main achievementS
- Revealed changes in the expression of Hox genes that underpin evolutionary changes in the body of crustaceans.
- Demonstrated the existence of a segmentation clock in insects, indicating that molecular oscillators are a common feature of segmentation in arthropods and vertebrates.
- Established transgenesis, CRISPR-mediated gene editing and live imaging in the emerging experimental models Parhyale and Tribolium.
- Established a new experimental model for studying regeneration, where genetic markers and live imaging can be used to discover the progenitor cells and cell dynamics of leg regeneration.
Selected recent publications
- Alwes, Enjolras and Averof (2016) Live imaging reveals the progenitors and cell dynamics of limb regeneration. eLife 5: e19766
- Konstantinides and Averof (2014) A common cellular basis for muscle regeneration in arthropods and vertebrates. Science 343: 788-791
- Sarrazin, Peel and Averof (2012) A segmentation clock with two-segment periodicity in insects. Science 336: 338-341
- Pavlopoulos et al. (2009) Probing the evolution of appendage specialization by Hox gene mis-expression in an emerging model crustacean. PNAS 106: 13897-13902