Cell Biology and Physiology at UNC-CH

Eyes on the Brain - UNC Research A Carolina alumna and her former research mentors are developing wearable smart glasses that could one day support new insights into mental health.

At 22, most students plan their next step—Ellora McTaggart built a company. Read how the UNC alum and 2 faculty developed wearable biosensing glasses that offer insights into how people respond to the world. #biotech
@joserodroma.bsky.social @nicopegard.bsky.social
research.unc.edu/story/eyes-o...

Quantitative 3D Imaging of Mouse and Human Intrahepatic Bile Ducts in Homeostasis and Liver Injury Intrahepatic bile ducts (IHBDs) form a complex hierarchical network essential for liver function. The remodeling and expansion of this network during ductular reaction (DR) are hallmarks of liver dise...

FINALLY out in AJPath - the second manuscript from @hannahhrncir.bsky.social’s PhD at Emory! Hannah developed a novel pipeline for quantitative 3D light sheet microscopy of bile ducts that will hopefully be a great resource to the community. ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S000...

Get a head start on your goals for next year! Apply to the CBP Biomedical Master’s Program, a 9-month program designed to help you take your next step to a career in the biomedical sciences. Apply here: www.med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

Attending #CellBio2025? Come see the Cohen Lab - Monday will be a busy day for us, including my theatrical debut in WICB "Scripts of Success" skits!

Happy Halloween from the creative minds of CBP grad students and scientists!!

The extraordinary influence of the lymphatic system on our health It has remained mysterious for millennia, but we’re finally uncovering the profound role the lymphatic system plays in everything from preventing dementia to fighting cancer

"In the past 20 years, we have experienced a renaissance in lymphatic biology,” said Kathleen Caron, chair of the UNC CBP Department. “It would be transformative to harness the powerful roles of lymphatics in keeping us healthy." Read more on @newscientist.com
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...

Happening today at noon! Tune in virtually to hear
@cohenlaboratory.bsky.social deliver her Hettleman Prize Talk! The Hettleman prize recognizes bold, innovative research from UNC’s rising stars. Register now: researchweek.unc.edu/events/hetta...
#UNCResearchWeek #Organelles

Join CBP on Monday (Sept 8), at 12:30 pm in MBRB G-202 for a talk from Dr. Grégory Scherrer on the circuit and cellular control of #pain and how to move toward #nonaddictive therapies.

Physical changes trigger key RNA processing events in cells that fine-tune gene expression. This is especially important in heart or bone cells, which constantly experience mechanical stress. Read more in this review from @jimenagiudice.bsky.social and Gabrielle Bais: lnkd.in/edApA4ZT

Thursday, August 14th marked a milestone for UNC Chapel Hill! The School of Medicine's Department of Cell Biology and Physiology launched the university’s first-ever Biomedical Master’s Program for a cohort of incoming students. #Biomedical #Master's #HigherEd

Dr. Peter J. Mohler Appointed 30th President of The University of Alabama The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees today unanimously appointed Peter J. Mohler, PhD, as the 30th president of The University of Alabama, the state’s flagship university.

UNC Cell Biology and Physiology graduate students go on to do great things! Congratulations to alum Dr. Peter J. Mohler on being appointed the 30th president of The University of Alabama. news.ua.edu/2025/06/dr-p...

2025 Hettleman Prizes awarded to five exceptional early-career faculty - College of Arts and Sciences The annual Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement have been awarded to five promising faculty members, including Alex Zhukhovitskiy in the department of chemistry. Ho...

Congratulations to @cohenlaboratory.bsky.social on winning the 2025 Hettleman Prize! The prestigious prize is awarded to just five promising #UNC faculty members who exemplify groundbreaking and innovative research along with future career promise. college.unc.edu/2025/06/hett...

Altered renal vascular patterning reduces ischemic kidney injury and limits age-associated vascular loss | American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology | American Physiological Society The kidney vasculature has a complex arrangement, which runs in both series and parallel to perfuse the renal tissue and appropriately filter plasma. Recent studies have demonstrated that the developm...

Disorganized kidney blood vessels may limit tissue damage after injury and even provide better blood flow with age, adding new considerations for #kidney #regeneration and #TissueEngineering. Read the new study by Sarah McLarnon and @llobrienlab.bsky.social.
journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10....

Get a deeper look into the subcellular structures underlying cancer using super-resolution #Microscopy and #MachineLearning. Dr. I. Robert Nabi from @ubccps.bsky.social will discuss this and more at UNC on Monday, June 2nd, at 12:30 pm in MBRB, room G-202!

A microscopy image of gut-brain cell contacts underlying gut brain communication (Image credit: Kendall Lough, PhD)

Exciting contact! Learn about gut-brain circuits in early physiology and behavior in a UNC Rising Stars Program webinar tomorrow, May 27th at noon. @kendall-lough.bsky.social will discuss #GutBrain communication. Get more info and join the webinar here: www.med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

Rising Stars Program Seminar - Kendall Lough, PhD - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology This seminar will be held virtually over Zoom. Link below https://zoom.us/j/95576307638?pwd=g5UvTCuaaaoFpfmMimAM3F4Jq4ZAWz.1 About the speaker  Dr. Kendall Lough is a CGIBD Basic Science Fellow with a...

Join us virtually on Tuesday, May 27th at noon to learn about #gut-brain communication and its contribution to animal physiology and disease. @kendall-lough.bsky.social will give a Rising Stars Program Seminar. Learn more and join here: www.med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi... #devbio

Less than a week left to apply for CBP's 9-month, experiential #biomedical #master's program! Apply by May 15th here: www.med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

The unexpected role of a pathogen-sensing immune protein in the brain - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology Trimming neuronal axons involves a distinct pathway and a rare pathogen-sensing immune protein that could have implications for Alzheimer’s disease. Neurons have the remarkable ability to kill parts o...

CBP scientist Selena Romero just found an #immune protein involved in responding to viral infections has an unexpected role in the brain. "What the heck is it doing in #neurons in a nonpathogenic or diseased setting,” said @deshmukhlab.bsky.social Read more here: www.med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

On Mon. Apr. 14th at 12:30 pm @sergiuppasca.bsky.social from @stanforduniversity.bsky.social will talk at UNC! Come to G-202 in MBRB and learn how his team constructs and deconstructs the human nervous system to study development and disease. #organoids #neuroscience

School of Medicine launches new 9-month biomedical master’s degree | UNC-Chapel Hill The program, created through The Graduate School and the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, features hands-on research experience.

"We want to inspire our students to chase their scientific curiosity and, after graduation, boost the economic and societal benefits of the #biomedical research industry," said Kathleen Caron. Read about #UNC CBP’s new 9-month #biomed #MastersProgram #MS www.unc.edu/posts/2025/0...

Painkillers without the addiction? The new wave of non-opioid pain relief Pharma firms are developing drugs that avoid the brain’s opioid receptors to minimise the risks of dependence and overdoses, but not all experts are convinced

In January, the FDA approved a new non-opioid painkiller. CBP's Grégory Scherrer spoke with @theguardian.com about the new wave of developing non-opioid drugs for pain relief. Read here: www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Starting soon in MBRB G-202 at 12:30 pm! Dr. Cocoa T. Dixon, from Wake Technical Community College will discuss her career development into an academic leadership position. Her talk is titled, “Beyond the Lecture Hall: Shaping a Career in Community College Teaching.”

Lori O’Brien receives an Innovative Science Accelerator Award - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology O’Brien will map the kidney nerve network from acute injury to chronic disease for the first time in a high-risk/high reward project. Sympathetic and sensory neurons innervate the kidney, with sympath...

Congrats to @llobrienlab.bsky.social on winning an Innovative Science Accelerator Award from @isackuh.bsky.social! She pioneered whole tissue 3D imaging of #kidney nerves. Now she will map changes in these nerves from acute injury to chronic disease for the first time! med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

Dicle Berfin Azizoglu receives a Liver Scholar Research Award - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology Understanding the influence of blood vessels on liver recovery may be the first step in developing better treatments for liver injury and solving the problem of why some drugs fail in the pharmaceutic...

Congrats to Dicle Berfin Azizoglu on winning a Liver Scholar Research Award from the American Liver Foundation. Azizoglu’s work on liver blood vessels may lead to improved treatments for patients with liver injury and shed light on why some drugs fail. Read more: www.med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

Flyer for a new 9-month biomedical master's degree program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

The UNC-Chapel Hill Dept. of Cell Biology & Physiology is launching a new 9-month non-thesis #biomedical #mastersdegree! Gain real-world experience in a #research lab and get professional development training for your future career. We are presently accepting applicants. Visit: bit.ly/4gKs5Gp

Understanding the role of gut messenger cells in gastrointestinal disease Health McCauley received a Junior Faculty Development Award to create a new humanized mouse model that more closely replicates complex immune cell dynamics in the gut.

Hungry? Special cells lining our gut sense the food we eat and even how much our intestines stretch! @hamccauley.bsky.social won an award to develop a new humanized mouse model to understand how these cells message immune cells and influence #guthealth and disease. unc.live/42KuHjM

Structure-guided design of a peripherally restricted chemogenetic system Kang et al. present HCAD, a peripherally restricted DREADD based on HCA2, with a chemical actuator that avoids crossing the blood-brain barrier and selectively reduces pain in mice. This system will enable the study of peripheral physiology without affecting the central nervous system.

A new study in @cellpress.bsky.social by @zenbrainest.bsky.social and CBP's Grégory Scherrer describes a groundbreaking molecular tool to reduce pain by targeting sensory neurons (nociceptors) that detect potentially damaging stimuli. Read the paper here: www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

Carolina researcher develops a way to see organelles in action | UNC-Chapel Hill Sarah Cohen and two others will pioneer a method to view these molecular structures and their interactions in live stem cells.

Small organelle interactions can play big roles in human health and disease. Pairing machine learning with classic microscopy may help scientists see organelle interactions in real time. Read about @cohenlaboratory.bsky.social's work in UNC's The Well: www.unc.edu/posts/2025/0...

Neural circuit basis of placebo pain relief - Nature Analgesia from the expectation of pain relief is mediated by rostral anterior cingulate cortex neurons that project to the pontine nucleus.

We’ve all heard about the placebo effect. This year, UNC_CBP researcher Gregory Scherrer unearthed the neural circuitry underlying this phenomenon for the first time. Read the peer-nominated Publication of the Year from CBP, published in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In the Loop Newsletter - Year in Review: December 2024 In this newsletter, explore scientific breakthroughs from researchers in the UNC Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, discover upcoming opportunities for collaboration and learning, and learn mo...

Check out the latest #biomedical discoveries from UNC_CBP in our In the Loop: Year in Review med.unc.edu/cellbiophysi...

Top research stories include
How fat droplets in the brain affect #Alzheimer’s disease
How disrupted sleep shapes #autism risk
How #neurons escape death
And more…