Krista C. Dobi

Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Dobi did her graduate work at Harvard University, where she studied transcriptional regulation in yeast. After receiving her Ph.D. in Genetics in 2007, she spent several years as a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where she was the recipient of a NIH/Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral fellowship to study transcriptional regulation of muscle development in Drosophila melanogaster. Her work as a postdoc uncovered new roles for a dozen transcription factors in fruit fly muscle development. Dr. Dobi’s current research focuses on the formation of unique muscles during fruit fly embryonic development. In particular, she is interested in how muscles with distinct sizes, shapes, attachments and innervations are formed by the interplay of different transcription factors during development. She uses molecular, cellular and genetic approaches to understand basic questions of cellular specification.

Awards and Grants

NIH/NIGMS SCORE SC2 Grant (2020–2023)

NSF/Biological Sciences Directorate MRI (2020–2023)

Eugene M. Lang Faculty Fellowship (2018–2019)

Professional Affiliations and Memberships

Member, Genetics Society of America

Member, Society for Developmental Biology

Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Publications

Schulman, VK, Dobi KC and Baylies MK. The morphogenesis of the somatic musculature in Drosophila, Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2015 Jul-Aug 4(4):313-34.

Dobi KC, Schulman, VK and Baylies MK. The specification of the somatic musculature in Drosophila, Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2015 Jul-Aug 4(4):357-75.

Kumar RP*, Dobi KC*, Baylies MK and Abmayr S. The Drosophila T-box transcription factor Midline determines specific muscle identities. Genetics. 2015 Jan; 199(3):777-91. *These authors contributed equally to this work.

Dobi KC, Halfon, MS and Baylies MK. Whole genome analysis of muscle founder cells implicates the chromatin regulator Sin3A in muscle identity. Cell Reports. 2014 Aug; 8(3):858-70.

Wong MC, Dobi KC and Baylies MK. Discrete levels of Twist activity are required to direct multiple cell functions during gastrulation and somatic myogenesis. PLoS One. 2014 May; 9(6):e99553.

Dobi KC, Metzger T and Baylies MK. Characterization of early steps in muscle morphogenesis in a primary culture system. Fly. 2011 Apr; 5(2):68-75.