# First person – Sriikhar Vedurupaka and Bita Jadali

## TL;DR

This paper discusses the role of a protocadherin in the development of oral placode in tunicates, with insights from two young researchers.

## Contribution

The study identifies a protocadherin's role in oral placode morphogenesis in tunicates, contributing to understanding developmental mechanisms.

## Key findings

- A protocadherin mediates oral placode morphogenesis in the tunicate Ciona.
- The research explores neurodevelopment and cellular mechanisms in model organisms.
- Findings contribute to understanding tunicate metamorphosis and neural signaling.

## Abstract

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Sriikhar Vedurupaka and Bita Jadali are co-first authors on ‘
A protocadherin mediates oral placode morphogenesis in the tunicate Ciona’, published in BiO. Sriikhar is an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Dr Alberto Stolfi at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, investigating the neurodevelopment of model organisms and their cellular and molecular mechanisms. Bita is a PhD student in the same lab, investigating the mechanisms and signalling of neural death during tunicate metamorphosis.