Zoe Griffin

I am a developmental biologist interested in how evolution shapes complex sensory systems, with a particular focus on the genetic and developmental mechanisms that generate retinal specializations such as the fovea. Working in the labs of Drs. Jim Lauderdale and Doug Menke, in collaboration with Dr. Paul Trainor, my research uses reptiles as emerging genetic models to dissect the molecular patterning, cell fate specification, and tissue-level dynamics underlying fovea formation. As an undergraduate, I generated the first gene-edited chameleons, establishing functional genetics in a previously inaccessible lineage. Building on that foundation, my dissertation work aims to integrate comparative developmental biology, CRISPR-based gene editing, and spatial transcriptomics to identify conserved and lineage-specific gene regulatory programs controlling foveation using anoles and chameleons.