UNC Anesthesiology congratulates Linnstaedt Lab researcher and Genetics & Molecular Biology doctoral candidate Erica Branham for being awarded a NIAMS F31 Predoctoral Fellowship in July 2024, for her project entitled, “Stressful life events confer risk for chronic posttraumatic musculoskeletal pain through DNA methylation changes at the POMC promoter.” Over the two-year funding period, Erica’s NIAMS fellowship will support her ongoing study of epigenetic mechanisms contributing to chronic pain development following traumatic stress exposure, and how environmental stress may influence vulnerability to pain development. 
This fellowship will provide Erica with the training opportunity to advance her skills in translational research design, modern molecular epigenetic techniques, cellular models of stress, and advanced biostatistics to conduct complementary epigenetic studies at the clinical and molecular level in the Linnstaedt Lab. Together, these experiences will support Erica in her long-term career aspirations as a researcher of translational epigenetics in academia.