The Department’s Staff Recognition Program was established to annually recognize a staff member for their outstanding achievement and service. Nominations are made with the following criteria in mind: teamwork, creativity and innovation, positive attitude, enthusiasm, productivity, flexibility and leadership. On December 12, 2018 at the Carolina Club, this award was presented by Dr. Beverly Errede and Lynn Ray to staff in two categories: administration and research.
The Staff Excellent Award for Administration was presented to Carolyn Clabo, Communications and Development Manager.
Carolyn Clabo earned a Bachelor’s of Business Management degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Business Administration. She holds numerous certifications (a few are mentioned here). In 2013, Ms. Clabo earned a certificate from Duke University in human resources management, and in 2017 she was certified in Mental Health and Substance Abuse First Aide. Carolyn attends regular training in ITS, website technologies, communications, and design. Carolyn has worked at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2013. In October 2015, she joined our department as the executive assistant for Aziz Sancar, M.D., Ph.D. to handle his busy schedule directly following the announcement of his Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Ms. Clabo continues to assist Dr. Sancar with his projects, such as establishing and managing the Aziz Sancar Turkish Fulbright scholars program at UNC. In addition, Carolyn has supported the department with alumni relations, communications, development and website content management since early 2017. In 2018, she managed the migration of the UNC-CH biochemistry website from Plone to WordPress, coordinated the search for the faculty director for UNC’s Biomolecular NMR Laboratory, and raised thousands of dollars in funding for the “Frontiers in RAS Pathobiology and Drug Discovery” national cancer research conference. Carolyn Clabo was recently mentioned in the DTH news in March 2018.
Carolyn is an outstanding ambassador for our department and an agent of goodwill. She is always smiling and spreading cheer. Ms. Clabo has a genuine concern for every individual at the office regardless of their position. She is a beacon of positivity for postdocs, students, and even temporary employees. This past summer she was spotted greeting our interns to make sure they were adjusting well to their new research environments. Carolyn’s attitude contributes to making our department an excellent place to work!
The Staff Excellent Award for Research was presented to Ming Jing Wu, Ph.D., lab manager for Neher lab.
Dr. Ming Jing Wu earned her undergraduate degree from National Chung Shing University. She has a PhD in Biochemistry from NCSU. Ming has extensive experience working in Biochemistry labs. She has expertise in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Developmental Biology. In her spare time, Ming performs with two different dance troupes. Ming is also an excellent and avid baker!
Ming does an awesome job of keeping all of the science in the Neher lab organized. She also organizes social events for the lab. Furthermore, Ming is an excellent teacher who shares her experience, enthusiasm and leadership with students in the lab. She has an uncanny scientific intuition that has allowed her to get to solve several important experimental problems. Ming was recently the first author on a Journal of Lipid Research paper that started from some ideas that she had to improve LPL purification. Ming is indispensable and deserving of recognition!