Javier Capdevila earned his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), studying the mechanisms of embryonic pattern formation in Drosophila melanogaster. Later he perfomed Postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School (Boston), the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston), and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies (La Jolla), always focusing on patterning mechanisms operating in vertebrate embryos, specifically during somite development, limb development, and the establishment of left-right organ asymmetry. Currently his main interest is the study of the structure and the evolutionary logic of developmental mechanisms.