My name is German Paniagua. I was born In El Salvador and raised in California. I attended Sacramento City College and transferred to UC Merced in 2020. After graduating from UC Merced in 2022, I joined Dr. Stephanie Woo's lab as a lab technician. There, I became deeply interested in the profound changes cells undergo during development. Having found my place in research, I decided to pursue a PhD. I am now a graduate student continuing in Dr. Woo's lab.
My current work focuses on answering a fundamental question in developmental biology: how does a loosely connected group of cells become a coherent tissue? The epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract and the respiratory system serves an important role as a selective barrier for the body. These epithelial barriers are derived from an embryonic tissue known as the endoderm. During embryonic development, individual migratory endodermal cells must transition into a cohesive, gap-free epithelium. My project investigates that transition period using high-resolution microscopy.
