{"id":22639,"date":"2022-06-10T08:29:31","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T12:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/?post_type=directory&#038;p=22639"},"modified":"2025-08-13T08:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T12:27:01","slug":"chrystal-starbird","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/directory\/chrystal-starbird\/","title":{"rendered":"Chrystal Starbird"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span class=\"directory-title clearfix\"><strong>Assistant Professor<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><\/em>(PhD &#8211; Vanderbilt University)<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chrystal-starbird-6b0071a4\/\">Dr. Chrystal Starbird&#8217;s\u00a0Linked in profile<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px;color: #000000;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 30px;text-align: center;text-indent: 0px\"><span class=\"blue\" style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px;color: #3187b6\"><em style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">Community and Engagement Committee Member &#8211; Professional Success<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Accepting Rotation Students<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Member, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center<br \/>\nMember, Pathobiology and Translational Science Program<\/p>\n<p>Research Topics: Receptor Signaling, Protein-Protein Interactions, Structural biology, Crystallography, Cryo-EM<\/p>\n<h2>Training<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10603 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/795\/2019\/08\/Faculty-OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-400dpi-for-website-300x181.png\" alt=\"Trained Faculty Mentor endorsed by Office of Graduate Ed UNC Chapel Hill\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/795\/2019\/08\/Faculty-OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-400dpi-for-website-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/795\/2019\/08\/Faculty-OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-400dpi-for-website-768x464.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/795\/2019\/08\/Faculty-OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-400dpi-for-website-1024x619.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Honors and Awards<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">K99\/R00 Career Transition Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 2021-current<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Distinguished Service Award, Yale University, 2022<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Juneteenth Best Peer to Peer Mentor Postdoctoral Award, Vanderbilt University, 2022<\/li>\n<li>Rising Black Scientist Award from Cell Press, 2021<\/li>\n<li>Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 2019-2021<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>and many more awards including a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation<\/p>\n<h2>Research<\/h2>\n<p>Receptor tyrosine kinases are clinically important family of receptors that act as key regulators of a wide range of biological functions. Our lab is broadly interested in the structural and functional principles that guide receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, including understanding how lipids contribute to receptor signaling. Traditionally, when investigating signaling pathways there has been a focus on how interactions between signaling molecules (i.e. ligands) and receptors toggle receptor between activated or inactive states, but it\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that there is much more complexity to receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) activation. Importantly, improving our understanding of these processes allows us to explore alternative strategies for treatment in diseases where aberrant signaling occurs.<\/p>\n<p>To better understand the structural basis of RTK signaling, my lab is currently focused on studying TAM (Tyro3, Axl and Mer) receptors. TAMs are a mechanistically understudied RTK subfamily whose activation appears to involve not only ligand but also interactions with the membrane lipid, phosphatidylserine. These non growth-factor associated receptors have a vital role in maintaining cellular homeostasis through the clearance of apoptotic cells and control of inflammatory and immune responses and, because of this, dysregulation of TAM receptors is implicated in numerous diseases including autoimmune diseases and cancer. How TAM receptors are activated is an important basic question that my lab aims to address through structural, biochemical, and cellular studies. Additionally, we are interested in investigating the structures of other receptors and transporters that interact with the lipid phosphatidylserine and appear to have overlapping roles with TAM receptors in diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease, to improve our basic understanding of how the lipid microenvironment may impact important cellular processes.<\/p>\n<h2>News<\/h2>\n<p><em>Click here to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/?s=starbird&amp;search-btn=Search&amp;search_type=wp\">view news for Starbird lab<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Publications<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/myncbi\/chrystal.starbird.2\/bibliography\/public\/\">complete list of publications for Chrystal Starbird<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1dbjc4n r-1adg3ll r-6gpygo\">\n<div class=\"css-1dbjc4n\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assistant Professor (PhD &#8211; Vanderbilt University) Dr. Chrystal Starbird&#8217;s\u00a0Linked in profile Community and Engagement Committee Member &#8211; Professional Success Accepting Rotation Students Member, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Member, Pathobiology and Translational Science Program Research Topics: Receptor Signaling, Protein-Protein Interactions, Structural biology, Crystallography, Cryo-EM Training Honors and Awards K99\/R00 Career Transition Award from the National Institute &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/directory\/chrystal-starbird\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Chrystal Starbird\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27625,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-22639","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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Chrystal"],"_upd_last_name":["Starbird"],"_upd_first_name":["Chrystal"],"_upd_sortorder_override":[],"_upd_sortorder":["1"],"_upd_gallery_summary":["<strong><em>Assistant Professor\r\n<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Pathobiology and Translational Science Program, Community and Engagement Committee Member, Professional Success <\/em><\/strong>Research: Receptor Signaling, Protein-Protein Interactions, Structural biology, Crystallography, Cryo-EM\r\n\r\n<strong>TRAINED MENTOR<\/strong>\r\n<span style=\"background-color: #4682b4;color: #ffffff\">Accepting Rotation Students<\/span>\r\n\r\nCB #7260 I 3047 Genetic Medicine\r\n919-962-4932 <a href=\"mailto:chrystal@email.unc.edu\">Email<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/starbirdlab.com\">Starbird Lab Website<\/a>"],"_upd_no_link":[],"_upd_degree1":[],"_upd_degree2":[],"_upd_email":[[{"email_text":"chrystal@email.unc.edu"}]],"_upd_phone":[[{"phone_text":"919-962-4932"}]],"_upd_address":[[{"address":{"address-1":"120 Mason Farm Road","address-2":"3047 Genetic Medicine Building","campus-box":"CB 7260","city":"Chapel 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