A central focus of the research in my laboratory deals with the use of molecular and genomic techniques to study marine environments, how the organisms that inhabit them evolved, and how physical and biological interactions have shaped their life history. Some of the projects currently ongoing in my laboratory are:

Genome-wide analysis of coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis: We are studying coral symbiosis by using microarray expression profiling to identify genes and cellular pathways involved in host-zooxanthellae interactions in the Montastraea faveolata and Acropora palmata mutualistic systems from Caribbean tropical reef areas. This research is an attempt to look at this important mutualistic relationship using a genome wide analysis of gene expression.

Metazoan evolution and mitochondrial genomics: We are using mitochondrial genomes to help resolve/postulate new hypotheses for the phylogenetic placement of several unresolved relationships within Lophotrochozoa, the monophyly of several phyla and lower level relationships within diverse groups such as anthozoan cnidarians and opisthobranch gastropods.