Meetings & Courses Program

Crossroads of Biology

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Cell & Developmental Biology of Xenopus:
Gene Discovery & Disease
April 7 - 21, 2026

Key Dates
Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
Arrival: April 7, 2026 by 6 pm EST
Departure: April 21, 2026 around 12 pm EST

CSHL Courses are intensive, running all day and often including evenings and weekends; students are expected to attend all sessions and reside on campus for the duration of the course.

Instructors
Rachel Miller, UTHealth Houston, McGovern Medical School
Peter Walentek Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Germany

See the roll of honor - who's taken the course in the past.

Follow us on Twitter: @cshlxeno

Check out highlights from the 2024 Xenopus Course!


Lennart Gollenbeck
Xenopus Laevis Eye - Lennart Gollenbeck
Shiri Kult Perry
HCR Kidneys - Shiri Kult Perry
Christina Roca
Xenopus Laevis Whole Tadpole - Christina Roca
Xenopus Laevis Eye - Lennart Gollenbeck HCR Kidneys - Shiri Kult Perry


Xenopus Laevis Whole Tadpole - Christina Roca

In vivo animal models are an important tool for the understanding of human development and disease. Studies using the frog Xenopus have made remarkable contributions to our understanding of fundamental processes such as cell cycle regulation, transcription, translation and many other topics. Xenopus is remarkable for studying development and disease, including birth defects, cancer, and stem cell biology. Because Xenopus are easy to raise, producing many thousands of eggs per day, these frogs have emerged as a premiere model for understanding of human biology from the fundamental building blocks to the whole organism.

Topics for 2026:

Gene manipulation
  • CRISPR/Cas9 knock-out
  • Antisense Morpholino knock-down
  • mRNA and DNA over-expression
  • Small molecule drug treatment
  • Transgenesis
Experimental Techniques
  • Targeted microinjections
  • Tissue transplantation
  • Organoid generation
  • Dissections and ex vivo organ culture
  • Biomechanics
  • Single cell technologies
Analysis Methods
  • Immuno-fluorescence and labeling
  • mRNA in situ hybridization and hybridization chain reaction (HCR)
  • Bioinformatics and imaging analysis
  • High-resolution confocal, spinning-disc and 2-photon microscopy
  • Time-lapse and live-cell imaging
  • Plate-based imaging and optical coherence tomography
Xenopus Resources

Due to the tailored nature of this course, it is suitable for those new to the Xenopus field, as well as for more advanced students who are interested in emerging technologies. Please feel free to contact the instructors for informal guidance.

Prior Year Invited Speakers:
Lance Davidson, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 
Kerstin Feistel, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany 
Malcom Fisher, Xenbase, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH
Matt Guille, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom*
Marko Horb, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA*
Douglas Houston, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 
Christina James-Zorn, Xenbase, Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, Cincinnati, OH*
Jennifer Landino, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 
Roberto Mayor, University College London, London, United Kingdom 
Thomas Naert, Ghent University, , Belgium 
Hajime Ogino, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan*
Adam Session, Binghamton University, Vestal, NY 
Marta Truchado-Garcia, University of California Berkeley, CA* 
Andrea Wills, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 
Helen Willsey, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 
John Young, Simmons University, Boston, MA 
Coral Zhou, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 

Axolotl Neurulation - Nayeli Reyes-Nava

SUM memGFP St16 CNC Explant - Lara Busby

Neural Tube Closure - Lorena Agostini Maia

Support & Stipends:

Major support provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Stipends are available to offset tuition costs as follows:

Please indicate your eligibility for funding in your stipend request submitted when you apply to the course. Stipend requests do not affect selection decisions made by the instructors.



We would like to acknowledge the following companies that provide invaluable support:

Biolyst Scientific, BioVision Technologies, Bruker, Leica Microsystems, Molecular Devices, Narishige, Nikon Instruments, Sutter Instrument, Thorlabs, Zeiss Microscopy

Bitplane software licenses provided by: 

Andor / Imaris

Many thanks to the CSHL Microscopy Shared Resource and its Director Erika Wee for significant contributions to the success of the course. 


Cost (including board and lodging): $4,790 USD

No fees are due until you have completed the full application process and are accepted into the course.

Before applying, ensure you have (all due by January 16, 2026):
  1. Personal statement/essay;
  2. Two Letters of recommendation (required);
  3. Curriculum vitae/resume (required);
  4. Financial aid request (optional).
    More details.

If you are not ready to fully apply but wish to express interest in applying, receive a reminder two weeks prior to the deadline, and tell us about your financial aid requirements, click below: