ABOUT ME
I am a visual systems developmental biologist with expertise in vertebrate development and genetic expression analysis. I have worked in a variety of systems exploring how the environment influences genetic regulation over the course of development including plants, cavefish, and zebrafish. I am interested in understanding how genomes are shaped by the environment to modulate cellular identity and pattern formation of organs. In the future, I plan for my research lab to use developmental studies paired with regenerative species to understand how developmental biology can inform our understanding and approach to regeneration.
Ph.D. Thesis Laboratory
(University of Maryland, College Park)
My ongoing predoctoral research is focused on how transcription factors (TF) are able to control cellular identity and how novel cell subtypes are created in the retina.
Long-term goal of determining the identity and mechanisms of the factors required to direct fate decisions in progenitors towards fully differentiated cell subtypes.
I explore how progenitor cells utilize TF to assume a cellular identity, and how these regulatory mechanisms can be recapitulated in regeneration towards regenerative therapies.
Ph.D. Laboratory Rotations
(University of Maryland, College Park)
The skills obtained from my undergraduate research allowed me to be extremely productive in my three laboratory rotations:
-
Rotation 1 (Dr. Yiping Qi): successfully clone plant genome editing and transcriptional regulation tools.
-
Rotation 2 (Dr. Antony Jose): assessed heritable epigenetic changes across generations.
-
Rotation 3 (Dr. William Jeffery): I provided preliminary data to support that environmental hypoxia may be one of the key factors driving Shh-dependent trait evolution in cavefish with Dr. Bill Jeffery’s research group.
I began my predoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. William Jeffery where my work focused on studying the evolutionary mechanisms of heart development in the mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus) in hypoxic conditions.
Undergraduate Research
(Roanoke College, Salem VA)
I served as a research assistant in the Research Laboratory for Dr. Leonard Pysh for three and a half years. During my time in his lab, I investigated how monolignol gene expression changes in dark versus light conditions and controls root cell shape. The work was particularly exciting because it suggested that overexposure to sunlight drives a defense mechanism in root cells and ultimately changes cell shape.
Grow Your Vision
Conferences
2024
1 / Visual System Development Gordon Research Conference (GRC)
Lucca (Barga), Italy
Poster: Transcriptional regulation creates diversity within UV cone photoreceptors
Authors: Carinna Householder, Juan Angueyra
2 / Mid-Atlantic Regional Zebrafish (MARZ) Meeting
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Poster: Transcriptional regulation creates diversity within UV cone photoreceptors
Authors: Carinna Householder, Juan Angueyra
Publications
1 / 1F31EY038082-01
2025
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31), NEI
Funding
1 / WIP: WebVision - Review of transcription factors in photoreceptor development
2025
Manuscript in progress for a co-authored chapter reviewing how Transcription Factors are utilized in photoreceptor development across species and through evolution.