About
I am a PhD student in Dominique Bergmann's lab at Stanford. Previously, I was a part of the DRSC/TRiP core and Elena Kramer's lab at Harvard. My interests lie broadly in the control of cell size, division and differentiation in multicellular tissues. Find my CV here.
Research Highlights
My research combines live imaging with quantitative methods to understand and control stem cell behavior. I currently work on the leaf epidermis, a naturally flat and optically accessible tissue ideal for microscopy (see banner above!). Stem cells of the epidermis undergo an ordered series of divisions before terminal differentiation, and the balance of division and differentiation is carefully controlled by environmental (1,2,3) and systemic (4,5) inputs to optimally adjust leaf function. My current research interests include the role of cell size in stem cell proliferation and interspecies comparisons of epidermal development.
Outreach
I am committed to training the next generation of scientists and diversifying the scientific workforce. I co-lead Stanford Science Penpals, advise fellow grad students with NSF GRPF applications and mentor high scholers and undergraduates in their journeys into research.
Selected publications
Gong, Y.*, Dale, R.*, Fung, H.F.*, Amador, G.*, Smit, M. & Bergmann, D. (2022). A cell size threshold triggers commitment to stomatal fate in Arabidopsis. Science Advances, 9(38), eadf3497.
Nir, I.*, Amador, G.*, Gong, Y., Smoot, N. K., Cai, L., Shohat, H., & Bergmann, D. C. (2022). Evolution of polarity protein BASL and the capacity for stomatal lineage asymmetric divisions. Current Biology, 32(2), 329-337.
Fung, H. F., Amador, G. O., Dale, R., Gong, Y., Vollbrecht, M., Erberich, J. M., Mair, A., & Bergmann, D. C. (2024). Multi-scale dynamics influence the division potential of stomatal lineage ground cells in Arabidopsis. bioRxiv.
Lang, P. L. M., Erberich, J. M., Lopez, L., Weiß, C. L., Amador, G., Fung, H. F., Latorre, S. M., Lasky, J. R., Burbano, H. A., Exposito-Alonso, M., & Bergman, D. (2022). Century-long timelines of herbarium genomes predict plant stomatal response to climate change. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-13.
Gong, Y., Alassimone, J., Muroyama, A., Amador, G., Varnau, R., Liu, A., & Bergmann, D. C. (2021). The Arabidopsis stomatal polarity protein BASL mediates distinct processes before and after cell division to coordinate cell size and fate asymmetries. Development, 148(18), dev199919.
Nir, I.*, Amador, G.*, Gong, Y., Smoot, N. K., Cai, L., Shohat, H., & Bergmann, D. C. (2022). Evolution of polarity protein BASL and the capacity for stomatal lineage asymmetric divisions. Current Biology, 32(2), 329-337.
Fung, H. F., Amador, G. O., Dale, R., Gong, Y., Vollbrecht, M., Erberich, J. M., Mair, A., & Bergmann, D. C. (2024). Multi-scale dynamics influence the division potential of stomatal lineage ground cells in Arabidopsis. bioRxiv.
Lang, P. L. M., Erberich, J. M., Lopez, L., Weiß, C. L., Amador, G., Fung, H. F., Latorre, S. M., Lasky, J. R., Burbano, H. A., Exposito-Alonso, M., & Bergman, D. (2022). Century-long timelines of herbarium genomes predict plant stomatal response to climate change. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-13.
Gong, Y., Alassimone, J., Muroyama, A., Amador, G., Varnau, R., Liu, A., & Bergmann, D. C. (2021). The Arabidopsis stomatal polarity protein BASL mediates distinct processes before and after cell division to coordinate cell size and fate asymmetries. Development, 148(18), dev199919.
