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Congratulations to Saskia Neher, Associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, who received tenure as a UNC faculty effective April 1, 2019. Saskia Neher received her Ph.D. from Dr. Tania Baker’s lab at MIT in 2005. She completed her postdoctoral studies at UCSF with Dr. Peter Walter in 2010, where she was a Jane Coffin Childs fellow. In 2011, Dr. Neher joined UNC as an Assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics. At UNC, Dr. Neher was selected as a Pew Scholar, was named a Kavli Fellow, and was chosen as the first National Lipid Association Junior Faculty Awardee. Research in the Neher lab is aimed at understanding regulation of lipoprotein lipase, the main lipase that clears triglycerides from the blood. Elevated plasma triglycerides are associated with increased risk of heart disease, and the Neher lab aims to find new ways to address this condition. In order to do so, the lab studies lipase structure-function relationships using a variety of techniques, including membrane protein biochemistry, enzymology, and structural biology. At UNC, Dr. Neher has trained several graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom have earned national research awards such as National Science Foundation and American Heart Association graduate research fellowships. Dr. Neher has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the National Lipid Association, the Pew Foundation, the UNC Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, Moderna, and NC TraCS.

Saskia Neher

Learn more about the Neher lab at http://neherlab.web.unc.edu/, or follow them on Instagram @unc_neherlab.