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We are interested in the resident macrophages of the central nervous system, the microglia. We seek to understand the basic cell and molecular biology governing dynamic functions of microglia during tissue development, in contexts of degeneration or tissue injury, and during regeneration. We are interrogating microglial interactions with other cell types (i.e. other glial cells and neurons) and how these interactions are impacted by microglial functional states. Our research has importance in understanding the basis of neurodegenerative disease, design of therapeutic treatments, and advances towards regenerative therapies in humans. We use the zebrafish as our model organism and we apply a variety of approaches to answer our questions, including static and real-time microscopy, molecular genetics, and next generation sequencing.