text "Welcome to the UNC Program in Chromatin and Epigenetics Epigenetic regulation is recognized to play a fundamental role in cell growth, cell fate and organismal development. While playing a key role in regulating our genome, much of the epigenetic machinery is found to be recurrently mutant and/or de-regulated in many human diseases including cancer. At UNC, our mission is to address the fundamental gaps in knowledge surrounding epigenetic regulation, with a long-term goal of developing novel therapeutic approaches towards treating human disease. The Chromatin and Epigenetics Research Program Our program is centered on a highly collaborative and team science environment that has a dedicated goal of solving fundamental and challenging problems in chromatin biology – with an emphasis on developing novel approaches towards treating human disease. With the large number of research faculty at UNC specializing in different areas of epigenetic research, we are optimally positioned to meet this challenge. Faculty at UNC are focused on i) the basic mechanisms of epigenetic regulation using a variety of model organisms, ii) high-throughput drug discovery efforts to"

The UNC Program in Chromatin and Epigenetics is dedicated to enhancing the epigenetics community and advancing our understanding of epigenetic regulation, a key driver of cellular growth, development, and diseases like cancer. The program aims to bring the epigenetics community together...

2 authors for Maness lab in November 2025

We are proud to announce that Dr. Patricia F. Maness and colleagues have published a groundbreaking article in The Journal of Biological Chemistry titled, “Structural interactions of ankyrin B with NrCAM and β2 spectrin.” This research uses state-of-the-art AI-based...

Adam Luthman, a graduate student of Dr. Dale Ramsden, defended his thesis and earned his PhD on November 14, 2025. His defense is entitled “Fidelity of DNA Double Strand Break Repair by Nonhomologous End Joining” Congratulations to Dr. Luthman!

On October 13, 2025, over sixty undergraduate neurobiology students visited the cryoEM core as part of their NSCI 405: Advanced Molecular Neuropharmacology course. The visit was organized by Dr. Alexandra Nowlan to enhance student learning of advanced methods used in structural biology to investigate the relationship between receptor structure and function. The session began with …

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Joanna Kovalski will join the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, effective January 12, 2026. She will also be appointed as a full member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Kovalski’s research centers on the post-transcriptional control of gene expression in cancer, with a …

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Clint Stalnecker will join the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, effective December 15, 2025. He will also be appointed as a full member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Stalnecker’s research centers on signaling dynamics associated with resistance to targeted therapies in …

Lineberger trainee day 2025 Bernard Weissman, PhD and the 3 winners of awards for best presentations in Clinical and Population Sciences, Translational Sciences and Basic Sciences

Dalia Fleifel PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Cook lab, was awarded the Oral Presentation Award for Basic Science at the Lineberger Trainee Research Day for her presentation entitled "MYC Breaks the Brakes: Reprogramming DNA replication origin Licensing in G1 phase"

genetic medicine building in evening lights

We’re thrilled to announce that our team has been awarded a Multi-PI R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for the project titled: “Epigenetic Regulation of Nuclear cGAS Activity in Aging-Related Inflammation.” This is a multi-PI initiative led by Qi Zhang and Pengda Liu, with key contributions from co-investigators Brian Strahl and Rob McGinty.

2025 Fall retreat photo at MBRB when Jean Cook was the chair

We invite prospective students to discover the wide-ranging educational opportunities and supportive networks within our department. Our commitment to fostering innovative research and leadership extends to multiple pathways, including our PhD, certificate, and master’s programs.

Congratulations to Darex Vera Rodriquez, PhD, from the Lee lab, who earned his degree on September 15, 2025. A major part of his dissertation was recently published in The Protein Society journal as “A flexible, allosteric loop regulates protein activity and rewires electrostatics.” Read more...

Researchers found that inhibiting a problematic protein in the body helps immunotherapies and CAR T-cell therapy to better fight off melanoma.

Riya Gohil a graduate student in Jill Dowen's lab presented at the 3MT finals on October 21, 2025 during UNC Research Week. The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic competition where graduate students have just three minutes to explain the breadth and significance of their research project to a non-specialist audience. She was one of the ten outstanding graduate students selected to compete in the 2025 3MT Finals.

Tag: Faculty & Lab News

UNC Chromatin & Epigenetics Program Sparks Collaboration

Celebrating Maness lab’s Latest Publication in The Journal of Biological Chemistry

Adam Luthman earned his PhD

UNC Neurobiology Students Explore CryoEM Technology in Hands-On Structural Biology Session

Welcome our new faculty Joanna Kovalski

Welcome our new faculty Clint Stalnecker

Dalia Fleifel PhD Earns Award for Best Basic Science Talk at Lineberger Trainee Day

BCBP Team Awarded Multi-PI R01 Grant from NIA to Advance Aging Research

Join Our Community—Support the Next Generation of Scientific Leaders

A flexible, allosteric loop regulates protein activity and rewires electrostatics

Researchers in our labs Unlock New Way to Help Fight Skin Cancer

Riya Gohil makes it to Three Minute Thesis finals