I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, where I studied the effects of developmental constraint in the developing Drosophila sex combs. Developmental biology, particularly the development of reproductive systems, caught my attention.

For my masters, I was drawn to study the placenta, a uniquely mammalian organ connecting the developing fetus and the mother. I used the mouse model to look at the role of Notch signaling in placental cell differentiation, and have worked on generating an organ culture system for the placenta at McGill University in Montréal.

After completing my masters and my duties as a part-time mouse gynecologist, mouse match-maker, or mouse house "madam"... I am joining the Extavour lab to focus on the key players of reproduction- germ cells! I am interested in exploring the roles of piRNAs in germ cells.

Additionally, I can still be comfortably seated at my elementary school desk, not that this has anything to do with science, but I am quite proud of it.

Didem is a graduate student in the OEB Program.

Publications