Celebration of Life
2026-01-10 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | NC
Celebration of Life

There is also a link to his obituary here. https://obits.endswellfuneralhome.com/richard-wolfenden

Saturday January 10, 2026

2 – 4 PM Assembly Hall at Carol Woods

Chapel Hill, NC

We invite you to attend this gathering of family, colleagues, and friends of Dr. Richard (Dick) Wolfenden to celebrate his life and career. We invite you to share with those attending your fond memories of Richard and the ways that he impacted you.

If you cannot attend but would like to send a message please forward it.

Please RSVP by December 10, 2025 so that we will know how many will be attending and if you would like to speak.

RSVP or if you have questions to Charlie Lewis atclewis2085@nc.rr.com.

In addition,
there will be a symposium to celebrate the contributions of Richard (Dick) Wolfenden on May 18, 2026. Dick joined the Department in 1970 and was a renowned enzymologist, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and an enormously valued mentor and colleague. He retired in 2018 and passed away recently. The one-day event will be on campus in the Pagano Seminar Room of the Lineberger Cancer Center. More details will come closer to the event. We are grateful to Gary Pielak and Laurie Betts who co-chair the organizing committee.
Gary Pielak gary_pielak@unc.edu
Laurie Betts laurie.betts0508@gmail.com

Seminar
2026-01-13 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-01-20 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-01-27 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-10 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-17 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-24 11:00 - 12:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
2026 Spring Seminar Series
Special seminars will occur January through February. 2026 Spring Seminar Series will occur March – April.
March 3
Vacant
March 10
vacant
March 17 – none
Spring break
March 24
Michael Kemp, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Wright State University
Hosts: Laura Lindsey-Boltz and Aziz Sancar
March 31
vacant
April 7
Guochun Jiang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Biophysics
UNC-CH
Host: Jean Cook
Title: “TBD”
April 14
David Boehr, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry (Sabbatical in Craig Campbell’s Lab at UNC)
Penn State University
Host: Rebecca Berlow
Title: “TBD”
April 21
Xiaojun Ren, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
UNC-Charlotte
Host: Jill Dowen

Seminar
2026-02-03 11:00 - 12:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
2026 Spring Seminar Series
Special seminars will occur January through February.
1/27 and 2/3 seminars canceled due to weather events.
2026 Spring Seminar Series will occur March – April.
March 3
Vacant
March 10
vacant
March 17 – none
Spring break
March 24
Michael Kemp, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Wright State University
Hosts: Laura Lindsey-Boltz and Aziz Sancar
March 31
vacant
April 7
Guochun Jiang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Biophysics
UNC-CH
Host: Jean Cook
Title: “TBD”
April 14
David Boehr, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry (Sabbatical in Craig Campbell’s Lab at UNC)
Penn State University
Host: Rebecca Berlow
Title: “TBD”
April 21
Xiaojun Ren, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
UNC-Charlotte
Host: Jill Dowen

Seminar
2026-02-26 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
February 26 (2:00-3:00 pm ) rescheduled from January 27
Title: “Engineering bacterial signal transduction”

Seminar
2026-03-03 11:00 - 12:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
2026 Spring Seminar Series
Special seminars will occur January through February. 2026 Spring Seminar Series will occur March – April.
March 3
Title: “UFMylation Regulates Mitochondrial Metabolism and Development”
March 10
vacant
March 17 – none
Spring break
March 24
Michael Kemp, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Wright State University
Hosts: Laura Lindsey-Boltz and Aziz Sancar
March 31
vacant
April 7
Guochun Jiang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Biophysics
UNC-CH
Host: Jean Cook
Title: “TBD”
April 14
David Boehr, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry (Sabbatical in Craig Campbell’s Lab at UNC)
Penn State University
Host: Rebecca Berlow
Title: “TBD”
April 21
Xiaojun Ren, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
UNC-Charlotte
Host: Jill Dowen

Defense: Christopher Shelby
2026-03-09 13:30 - 14:30 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Biochemistry and Biophysics Student Defense:

Student:
Christopher Shelby (student of Dr. Brian Kuhlman)

Title:
“Enhancing enzymatic bioconjugation efficiency via computer-based installation of a substrate recruitment domain”

Date/location:
March 9, 2026
1:45 PM
Bioinformatics 1131

Seminar
2026-03-10 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-03-24 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-03-31 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-04-07 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-04-14 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-04-21 11:00 - 12:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
2026 Spring Seminar Series

Bagel breakfast
2026-03-11 11:00 - 12:00 | GMB 3rd floor atrium, 120 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
Spring semester – bagel breakfast series: The bagel breakfast is scheduled for the 2nd Wednesday of every other month during the semester.

Pi Day 2026
2026-03-13 14:30 - 15:30 | GMB 3rd floor atrium, 120 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
Friday, March 13, 2026

Pie Day

Time: 2:30–3:30 PM

Location: 3rd Floor Lobby
Join us for Pi(e) Day!

Defense: Jingting Chen
2026-03-17 09:30 - 10:30 | MBRB G202, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, 27599, United States
Jingting Chen (Brunk)
March 17, 9:30am
MBRB G202

Training event
2026-03-24 15:00 - 16:00 | NC
To Genetic Medicine third floor occupants,

We have a brand-new dishwasher and training with the company representative is scheduled for next Tuesday (3/24) at 3pm. As this dishwasher is configured differently from our current one, training is required for users. If you or your lab is interested, please email me (lmcarey@email.unc.edu) so I can provide the representative with a head count. Let me know if there are any questions!

Leiah M Carey, PhD
Research Associate
Campbell Lab
Dept of Biochemistry and Biophysics
UNC School of Medicine

Thesis Defense: Uriel Jean-Baptiste (Neher lab)
2026-04-08 14:00 - 15:00 | Marsico 5004, 125 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Defense Title: “Navigating New Frontiers in Lipase Regulation”

27th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research
2026-04-22 | NC
27th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research

Date & Time: Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 12:15–5:30 PM

Location: Alumni Hall at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center

There will be five (5) sequential 50-minute poster sessions, starting at 12:20pm, 1:25 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:35 pm, and 4:40 pm.

Thesis Defense: Matthew Vander Ploeg
2026-04-30 15:00 - 16:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Student: Matthew Vander Ploeg
Defense title “Integrin signaling and platelet migration: mechanistic insights and pathophysiological relevance”.
Bergmeier lab
It will be held at 3:00pm on Thursday April 30, 2026, in Bioinformatics 1131.
