Research Strengths

Genetics and Molecular Biology

Genetics is both a discipline (the study of heredity) and an experimental approach (manipulation of genes or the genetic material). Today, most geneticists include work at the molecular level by manipulating RNA or DNA…or entire genomes. Our department is strong in both model organism genetics and genomics.

Faculty Member	Contact Info	Research Description
Shawn Ahmed Associate Professor	216 Fordham Hall (919) 843-4780 shawn[at]med.unc.edu	Telomere replication and germ cell immortality
Kerry S. Bloom Thad L. Beyle Distinguished Professor	623 Fordham Hall (919) 962-1182 kerry_bloom[at]unc.edu	Molecular Biology; Chromosome and Spindle Dynamics
Christina Burch Associate Professor	235 Wilson Hall 919-843-2691 cburch[at]bio.unc.edu	Experimental Evolution of Viruses
Frank Conlon Associate Professor	220 Fordham Hall (919) 843-5500 frank_conlon[at]med.unc.edu	Developmental Genetics
Gregory P. Copenhaver Associate Professor	Coker Hall, Rm. 305 (919) 843-4026 gcopenhaver at bio.unc.edu	Plant Biology
Stephen Crews Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Adjunct Professor of Biology	321 Fordham Hall (919) 962-4380 steve_crews[at]unc.edu	Drosophila Nervous System Development; Gene Regulation
Jeff Dangl John N. Couch Professor	108 Coker Hall (919) 962-5624 dangl[at]email.unc.edu	Plant Genetics and Cellular Biology; Plant Disease Resistance and Cell Death Control
Mara C. Duncan Assistant Professor	304 Coker Hall (919) 843-8435 mduncan[at]bio.unc.edu	Membrane Traffic in the Late Secretory & Endosomal Pathways
Robert J. Duronio Professor	307 Fordham Hall (919) 962-7749 duronio[at]med.unc.edu	Developmental control of the cell cycle
Terry Furey Assistant Professor	5022 Genetic Medicine Building (919) 966-7033 tsfurey[at]unc.edu	Chromatin accessibility and gene regulation; Integrative analysis of complex traits
Bob Goldstein Professor	616 Fordham Hall (919) 843-8575 bobg[at]unc.edu	Cell Polarity, Morphogenesis, and Evolution of Development
Sarah R. Grant Research Associate Professor	108 Coker Hall (919) 962-0684 sgrant[at]email.unc.edu	The suite of pathogenicity factors in Pseudomonas syringae
Alan M. Jones George and Alice Welsh Distinguished Professor	317 Coker Hall (919) 962-6932 alan_jones[at]unc.edu	Signal Perception and the Regulation of Growth and Development
Corbin Jones Associate Professor	414 Coker Hall (919) 843-5162 cdjones[at]email.unc.edu	Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics
Joseph Kieber Professor & Associate Chair of Biology	312 Coker Hall (919) 962-2144 jkieber[at]bio.unc.edu	Molecular Genetic Analysis of Ethylene and Cytokinin Action in Arabidopsis
Alain Laederach Assistant Professor	318 Wilson Hall (919) 962-6782 alain[at]unc.edu	Disease-associated mutations and their effect on RNA Structure
Jason Lieb Professor	408 Fordham Hall (919) 843-3228 jlieb[at]bio.unc.edu	Specificity and Function in Protein-Genome Interactions
William F. Marzluff William Rand Kenan Professor	208 Fordham Hall (919) 962-8920 marzluff[at]med.unc.edu	Regulation of RNA Metabolism in Animal Cells
Gregory Matera Professor	415 Fordham Hall (919) 962-2770 matera[at]unc.edu	RNA Processing: Biogenesis of Small Ribonucleoproteins in Health and Disease
Steven W. Matson Professor	315 Fordham Hall (919) 962-0005 smatson[at]bio.unc.edu	DNA Helicases in Nucleic Acid Metabolism
Mark Peifer Hooker Distinguished Professor	521 Fordham Hall (919) 962-2271 peifer[at]unc.edu	Cell adhesion, signal transduction, and cytoskeletal regulation in development and disease
Patricia J. Pukkila Professor	202 Fordham Hall (919) 966-5576 pukkila[at]unc.edu	Controlling Events in Meiosis
Jason W. Reed Associate Professor	104 Coker Hall (919) 962-5699 jreed[at]email.unc.edu	Plant Signal Transduction and Development
Steve Rogers Associate Professor	422 Fordham Hall (919) 843-7342 srogers[at]bio.unc.edu	Cell Biology of the Cytoskeleton, Cell Migration, and Morphogenesis
Jeff Sekelsky Professor	303 Fordham Hall (919) 843-9400 sekelsky[at]unc.edu	DNA Repair and Recombination
Kevin Slep Assistant Professor	402 Fordham Hall (919) 962-4858 KSlep[at]bio.unc.edu	Cytoskeletal Structure and Dynamics
Darrel W. Stafford Professor	442 Wilson Hall (919) 962-0597 dws[at]email.unc.edu	Molecular Biology
Christopher S. Willett Research Assistant Professor	435 Wilson Hall (919) 843-8663 willett4[at]email.unc.edu	Molecular population and evolutionary genetics
Elaine Yeh Research Associate Professor	603 Fordham Hall (919) 962-2331 elaine_yeh[at]unc.edu	Nuclear division in yeast: cell cycle control; microtubule motor proteins and the cytoskeleton.

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Research Strengths

Research Strengths