Sumanas lab focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms that regulate blood vessel development and disease. We use zebrafish as a model organism due to embryo transparency and experimental accessibility. Our research includes studying transcriptional regulation during embryonic vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, as well as pathological vascular development such as tumor angiogenesis. We are also performing screens for novel potential regulators of vasculature formation followed by their characterization and functional studies. And finally, we are using zebrafish as a tool to identify genetic causes of different human vascular diseases including intracranial aneurysms.
