The Ishihara lab at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, takes a synthetic approach to study how cells form tissues. “Synthetic” embodies the experimental creation of states of physical organization and gene expression that push a multicellular system to all possible extremes. The synthetic approach allows us to discover novel regulatory molecules, dormant genetic programs, and general physical principles. Our goal is to develop new genetic and chemical tools to engineer form and function of human brain organoids and cardiac organoids. In this seminar, I will cover my work as a postdoc that used mouse neuroepithelial organoids to analyze and tune 3D tissue morphogenesis with a small molecule.