The long term goal of my work is to understand the nature of specific synaptic connections in the autonomic nervous system, to determine the way in which those connections arise during neural development, and to determine how they may be altered by disease states. Currently, the major focus of my work addresses the mechanisms by which segment-specific preganglionic axon trajectories result in a topographic map of body innervation. This work addresses two fundamental issues: 1) how positional information establishes the rostrocaudal axis in this system and 2) whether the spinal cord is intrinsically segmented. The segment-specific outgrowth of preganglionic axons can be altered by manipulation of the somitic mesoderm (through which the preganglionic axons project) during development. Manipulations that alter the specific outgrowth include surgical translocations of the somites, altering the anterior-posterior axis of the somites, and treating the somites with retinoic acid. Technical aspects of the work include embryonic surgery, in vitro labeling of embryonic neural projections, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and ectopic gene expression.

In addition to these developmental studies, another focus of my research is to investigate alterations in autonomic ganglion cells in hypertensive animals. Specifically, I examine the morphology and electrophysiological characteristics of sympathetic ganglion cells, and the pattern of innervation between preganglionic neurons and ganglion cells in normal and hypertensive animals