# The Drosophila Ommatidium: a model neural system for cell recruitment and fate specification during development

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $314,280

## Abstract

Project Summary
In highly structured organs, cells are arranged in precise patterns with each cell occupying a defined
position and performing a specific function. Thus, there is an intimate linkage between a cell’s
position and its fate. The mechanisms that regulate position usually involve changes in cell affinities
and movement of cells, whereas the processes of fate assignment involve
the execution of specific programs of cellular differentiation. This raises the question of how at the
molecular level the mechanisms that determine position are integrated with those that determine
fate. This proposal uses the developing Drosophila ommatidium as a model system with which to
study the linkage between cell position and fate. Ommatidia grow by recruiting cells to precise
positions in their structure, and the cell fate specifications depends on the cells they contact. The
Receptor Tyrosine Kinase and Notch signaling pathways play key roles in ommatidial development,
and in this work we test whether these two pathways control both the recruitment and cell fate
specifications. Specifically, we ask whether the recruitment and fate specification steps represent
early and late aspects of the same signaling process.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10622281
- **Project number:** 5R01EY030956-03
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** ANDREW TOMLINSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $314,280
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10622281

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10622281, The Drosophila Ommatidium: a model neural system for cell recruitment and fate specification during development (5R01EY030956-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10622281. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*