Developmental Biology Program

The Alexandra Joyner Lab

Alexandra Joyner, PhD

Courtney Steel Chair in Pediatric Cancer Research

The Joyner lab studies how genes regulate the cell behaviors (proliferation, differentiation, migration) that underlie organ development, tissue repair and cancer. They focus on the brain where stem cells must produce hundreds of cell types at the right times and in the correct numbers, and the cells then migrate to the correct positions and synapse with partners. The lab uses sophisticated mouse genetics approaches to probe how cell-cell communication and cell intrinsic genetic programs determine the way by which normal cerebellar circuitry is established and regulates behaviors, or are disrupted in diseases including cancer.

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Research Projects

Featured News

At Work: Developmental Biologist Alexandra Joyner

Alexandra Joyner, a global leader in mouse developmental genetics, studies how the body’s natural stem cells might be harnessed to fight disease.

Alexandra Joyner Elected to the Institute of Medicine

Alexandra L. Joyner have been elected members of the Institute of Medicine.

Publications Highlights

Bayin N. Sumru, Mizrak Dogukan, Stephen Daniel N., Lao Zhimin, Sims Peter A., Joyner Alexandra L.. Injury-induced ASCL1 expression orchestrates a transitory cell state required for repair of the neonatal cerebellum. Science Advances. 2021 December; 7(50):eabj1598. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj1598.

Tan IL, Arifa RDN, Rallapalli H, Kana V, Lao Z, Sanghrajka RM, Sumru Bayin N, Tanne A, Wojcinski A, Korshunov A, Bhardwaj N, Merad M, Turnbull DH, Lafaille JJ, Joyner AL. CSF1R inhibition depletes tumor-associated macrophages and attenuates tumor progression in a mouse sonic Hedgehog-Medulloblastoma model. Oncogene. 2020 Jan;40(2):396-407. doi: 10.1038/s41388-020-01536-0. Epub 2020 Nov 6. PubMed PMID: 33159168; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7855734.

Lawton, A., Engstrom, T., Rohrbach, D., Mamou, J., Turnbull, D.H., Zhang, T., Schwarz, J. and Joyner, A.L. (2019) Brain folding is initiated by mechanical constraints on a fluid-like layer without a cellular pre-pattern. eLife, 8. pil: e45019.

Willett, R.T*., Bayin, N.S.*, Lee, A.S.*, Krishnamurthy, A.*, Wojcinski, A.*, N., N.S., Lao, Z., Stephen, D., Rosello-Diez, A., Dauber, K.L., Orvis, G.D., Wu, Z., Tessier-Lavigne, M. and Joyner, A.L. (2019) Cerebellar nuclei excitatory neurons regulate developmental scaling of presynaptic Purkinje cells and organ growth. eLife, Nov 19;8. pii: e50617

Wojcinski, A., Lawton, A., Bayin, N.S., Lao, Z., Stephen, D. and Joyner, A.L. (2017) Cerebellar granule cell replenishment post-injury by adaptive reprogramming of Nestin+ progenitors. Nature Neuroscience, 20:1361-1370.

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People

Alexandra Joyner, PhD

Courtney Steel Chair in Pediatric Cancer Research

The Joyner laboratory studies the involvement of Hedgehog signaling and transcription factors in cerebellum development, regeneration and cancer.
PhD, University of Toronto

[email protected]: Email Address
212-639-3962: Office Phone

Members

Salsabiel El Nagar
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Yinwen Liang, PhD — Yinwen Liang
Research Associate

Zhimin (Jimmy) Lao
Senior Research Assistant

Daniel Stephen
Senior Research Technician

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Science (2007)
President-elect, President, past-President Society for Developmental Biology (2009-2012)
Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine (2009)
NIMH MERIT Investigator (2014-2023)
Awarded the International Society for Transgenic Technology Prize (2020)

Elected Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2021)

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

Get in Touch

[email protected]

Lab Head Email
212-639-3962

Office Phone
212-639-3980

Lab Phone

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Alexandra Joyner discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Professional Services and Activities

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].

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