Crystal Rogers examines how genetic and environmental changes affect early developmental processes in vertebrate embryos. Specifically, her lab studies embryos from two research organisms, chickens and amphibians, to identify the factors that are necessary and sufficient to drive the formation and differentiation of neural crest cells. Rogers and her students seek to understand the normal mechanisms that control the development of these cells and also to understand how environmental exposures can negatively affect development causing disorders such as cleft palate, peripheral nerve defects, albinism, and others.