The focus of my research is RNA editing, a process by which the coding and stability of an RNA message can be changed post-transcriptionally. Many targets of this process are components of nervous signaling. The primary goals of my lab are to examine species such as neurological model organisms and arthropod pests for novel editing sites and then to characterize these editing sites in regard to functional significance. Another goal of my work is to understand the regulation of the timing and tissue-specificity of editing.
I am also very interested in the role that editing plays in evolution, and an additional focus of my research is to examine the involvement of RNA editing in the formation of social systems in insects.