Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Michigan received a $400,881 Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), effective February 26, 2026, with completion targeted for December 31, 2030. The grant funds research to uncover morphogenetic modularity—the organizational principles by which cells reuse and adapt a finite set of behaviors including division, migration, and shape change to construct diverse tissue architectures. The research addresses fundamental questions about how tissues acquire their intricate shapes and functions during early development, with particular focus on brain and epidermal development in the Drosophila embryo, with applications to understanding congenital disorders, regenerative medicine, and synthetic biology.

The primary deliverable under this award is the development of a machine learning-based algorithm for cell segmentation and tracking from three-dimensional live-imaging datasets generated using light-sheet microscopy. This novel computational tool is designed to overcome longstanding technical challenges in tracking cell lineages over time and will enable reconstruction of dynamic cellular behaviors across entire embryos. The research outputs will provide foundational analysis identifying and characterizing cellular modules in development, establishing universal principles of tissue morphogenesis applicable to addressing developmental disorders and advancing regenerative medicine applications.