Stella Marco Kyomen

I was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and I have a Bachelor degree in Evolutionary Biology from University of Sao Paulo. During my research career, I am interested in how morphological variation arouse during evolution of vertebrates and how intricate are its underlying developmental mechanisms. For my Master’s thesis, I studied phenotypic integration of limb bones of several Tropidurinae species, a native subfamily of lizards from South America. My aim was to propose functional and developmental modules between/within limb bones and investigate their relationship with the microhabitat in which the lizards were found in the wild. To continue my studies, I intend to focus on the non-coding genetic elements underlying phenotypic variation in vertebrates so I was very happy to join Dr. Marketa Kaucka's group. For my PhD, I want to understand how variation in morphology is differentially modulated by gene regulation during development of different taxa, focusing on key morphogens that are essential for the developmental of facial structures in vertebrates. Aside from science, I am a big fan of literature and scientific illustration.