The Kelly Lab focuses on Molecular and Developmental Cell Biology. We study the series of events that govern vertebrate embryo development, analyzing how cell-cell communication and signaling can lead to significant physiological outcomes. Our research involves models such as mouse F9 embryonal carcinoma lines, mouse embryonic stem cells, and zebrafish embryos. We are particularly interested in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, a phenomenon that plays a crucial role in normal embryonic development, extraembryonic endoderm formation, gastrulation, heart formation, and various human diseases such as fibrosis and metastatic cancer.