Barbara Sisson earns Franklin Research Grant

Associate Professor of Biology Barbara Sisson has been awarded the Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society. The funds will support her research on the biology of cartilage and bone development in vertebrate organisms.

“Facial birth defects are among the most prevalent birth defects in humans and are often the result of defective bone and cartilage formation,” Sisson says in her application. “My research uses zebrafish, Danio rerio, as a model to help understand the biology of cartilage and bone development.”

Sisson says the research will generate a large data set that she and her students will analyze in the future. “This information can then be used to expand our knowledge of human facial and bone development, which could someday lead to methods to prevent or treat facial birth defects.”