Ertugrul Ozbudak is the Robert Laughlin Rea Professor in Cell Biology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. His research focuses on achieving a systems-level understanding of embryonic development and pattern formation, integrating quantitative experiments with computational modeling. His lab is particularly interested in how embryos develop spatial and temporal patterns that encode and interpret biological signals in real time. This involves studying the mechanisms that buffer stochastic gene expression, as these fluctuations are crucial for robust and reproducible embryonic development. A striking area of focus is segmentation in somite development, which is controlled by the oscillatory expression of the Hes/Her gene family known for orchestrating vertebrate segmentation clocks. The lab employs advanced techniques, including single-cell confocal microscopy and genome-wide methods, to decipher the mechanisms underlying robust pattern formation and cell fate determination. Ozbudak's multidisciplinary team comprises backgrounds in molecular developmental biology, cell biology, bioengineering, chemical engineering, and physics, and is actively recruiting graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.