Welcome to the Zebrafish Pigment Cell Biology Lab homepage! The lab is headed by Dr. Cynthia Cooper of Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. Please visit our webpage frequently for updates on research and available positions.

Our laboratory is interested in the cell biology, developmental biology and genetics of pigmentation. Black pigment cells, or melanocytes, reside throughout human skin, in hair follicles/eyes and are essential in providing color to those features as well as protecting our skin from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays (tanning). We use zebrafish melanophores as a model to study how these critically important cells develop and function.  Our long term goal is to not only better understand pigment cell biology, but to also find new treatments for pigment cell diseases, such as melanoma and albinism.  Funding has been awarded from the National Institutes of Health, the Melanoma Research Foundation, Washington State University (WSU) Vancouver, WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Pan American Society of Pigment Cell Researchers.

Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Equity

Expanding understanding of pigmentation diseases

Last updated 7/20/22