Raymond Keller studies the molecular, cellular, and biomechanical mechanisms shaping the vertebrate embryo. His lab showed that the convergent extension of the early embryonic axis is driven by intercalation of cells across the future body axis, thus producing a narrower, longer tissue. Failure of this intercalation causes neural tube (birth) defects.

He joined the University of California, Berkeley in 1980 and moved to the University of Virginia in 1995, where he is Alumni Council Thomas Jefferson Professor of Biology. His honors include the Society for Developmental Biology Lifetime Achievement Award and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2025, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.