Roberto Mayor

Roberto Mayor is Reader in Developmental & Cellular Neurobiology at University College London, United Kingdom. He was named International Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He is a member of the editorial board of Development and Developmental Dynamics and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Developmental Biology. He was founder and president of the Latin American Society of Developmental Biology (LASDB).

Dr. Mayor’s main research interests are the fundamental principles that control Neural Crest development. The Neural Crest is a group of cells found in all vertebrate embryos. It forms in the neural folds at the border of the neural plate and gives rise to the Peripheral Nervous System, as well as the cartilage, bone and muscle in the face and neck, pigmented cells in the skin, several endocrine glands and part of the heart. The primary aim of Dr. Mayor’s research group is to elucidate the mechanisms that explain how Neural Crest cells acquire their identity within the ectoderm and how their migration and differentiation is controlled. They study neural crest development in zebrafish and frog (Xenopus laevis) embryos as these two animal models offer several complementary advantages.