David Castillo Azofeifa, PhD
David received his BS from the University of Costa Rica. He then earned a Professional Science Masters degree from the University of South Carolina, where he was a Fullbright Scholar and a Barsa Scholar. He completed his doctoral studies in 2016 at the University of Colorado in the Barlow Lab. In  Dr. Barlow’s lab he pursued his goal of studying stem cells by working on signaling pathways that might regulate the stem cell pool(s) within the lingual epithelium, which are responsible for regeneration and maintenance of the taste system in mammals. His thesis project focused on the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway, a key regulator of cell proliferation/differentiation, and its role on adult taste bud renewal. He used mouse transgenic lines and pharmacologic approaches to investigate the phenotypic effects of Shh in the lingual epithelium and demonstrate its potential to drive differentiation of the entire taste bud cell complement.
David is currently a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF in Ophir Klein's lab using studying stem cells in colon regeneration both in vivo and in vitro.