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Our lab uses the fruit fly Drosophila as a model to study how visual system neurons develop. By combining classical genetics with advanced techniques such as live imaging and single-cell sequencing, we aim to address two key questions:

i) How are morphogen signals tuned to reproducibly specify cell types in the correct proportions?

ii) How do cell-intrinsic signals regulate the shape, size and positioning of visual system neurons?

Our work is currently supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Postdoctoral Fellow, Biology, New York University

PhD, Biology, The Rockefeller University

BA, Biology, University of Pennsylvania

BIO 20700 Organismal Biology

Elective Courses, Neurobiology

1. Malin, J.A.^, Chen, Y.-C., Simon, F., Keefer, E., Desplan, C. (2024). Spatial patterning regulates neuron numbers in the Drosophila visual system.

Dev Cell (Cover article) S1534-5807(24)00148-5. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2024.03.004

2. Simon, F., Holguera, I., Chen, Y.-C., Malin, J., Valentino, P., Erclik, T., Desplan, C. (2024). High-throughput identification of the spatial origins of Drosophila optic lobe neurons using single-cell mRNA-sequencing. bioRxiv, Feb 5:2024.02.05.578975. doi: 10.1101/2024.02.05.578975.

3. Ozel, M.N., Simon, F.J.L., Jafari, S., Holguera, I., Chen, Y.-C., Benhra, N., El-Danaf, R., Kapuralin, K., Malin, J.A., Konstantinides, N., and Desplan C. (2020).

Neuronal diversity and convergence in a visual system developmental atlas. Nature, 589; 88-95. doi: 10.10138/s41586-020-2879-3.

4. Malin, J.A.*, Kinet, M.J.*, Abraham, M.C., Blum, E.S., and Shaham S. (2016).

Transcriptional control of non-apoptotic developmental cell death in C. elegans.

Cell Death and Differentiation, 23, 1985-1994. doi: 10.1038/cdd.2016.77. Epub 2016 Jul 29

5. Kinet, M.J.*, Malin, J.A.*, Abraham, M.C., Blum, E.S., Silverman, M., Lu, Y., and Shaham, S. (2016).

HSF-1 Activates the UPS to Promote Non-Apoptotic Developmental Cell Death in C. elegans. Elife, 8; pii: e12821. doi: 10.7554/eLife.12821.