Dr. Ayelet Voskoboynik

Biography

Ayelet Voskoboynik is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Stanford University. Her research focuses on comparative immunology and stem cell biology. Ayelet's studies have significantly contributed to the development of the colonial chordate Botryllus schlosseri as a model system for investigating stem cell biology, aging, and evolution of immunity. She led the Botryllus genome project and developed a novel method to obtain synthetic long read sequences (SLR). Her research has isolated the BHF gene, which encodes self/non-self recognition and determines 'graft' outcomes in organisms. Ayelet identified both the adult stem cell niche and the germline stem cell niche in Botryllus and led comprehensive cellular, molecular, and functional characterizations of its immune system. Investigating neurodegeneration pathways in young and old colonies has also been a focus of her work. She has led an international effort to build the Tabula compositi chordate, an atlas of Botryllus embryogenesis and blastogenesis that reveals unique molecular landscapes of developmental modes. Ayelet's work is paving the way for new understandings of the evolution of stem cell and immune cell properties in development, regeneration, transplantation, and aging.

Research Interests