Kathleen Caron, the chair of the UNC School of Medicine’s Cell Biology and Physiology Department recently met with a journalist from New Scientist to discuss the importance of lymphatic biology and its potential to transform our understanding of major health conditions. “In the past 20 years, we have experienced a...

Cells get stressed too and when they do, cancer therapies fail. A UNC researcher may be on the cusp of finding a solution to T cell exhaustion. When the immune system experiences prolonged cell stress, immunotherapy fails. Immunotherapy uses the body’s own immune cells, such as T cells or B...

Experts at the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy are focused on a pain drug candidate that can target an area of the brain that controls the ‘unpleasantness’ associated with pain. Chronic pain is a struggle for so many and has staggering impact on the lives...

Four CBP PhD Curriculum students received this year’s Cellular Systems and Integrative Physiology (CSIP) T32 (NIH/NIGMS) Training Awards.  The mission of the CSIP T32 Training Program is to develop a robust pool of responsible, rigorous scientists who have the skills to investigate the integrative, regulatory, and developmental physiology of higher...

From working with wild squirrels to discovering unknown G protein-coupled receptor kinases, Ellen Weiss’s research opened new doors for understanding the human eye and retinal degenerative diseases. In 1990, when Ellen Weiss picked up the phone as a postdoc in Gary Johnson’s lab at the National Jewish Center in Denver,...

Peter Mohler’s accomplishments demonstrate that cell biology and physiology graduate students can become national research and academic leaders. Peter Mohler earned his doctorate in cell and molecular physiology, the predecessor of the cell biology and physiology department and curriculum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000....

Congratulations to Sarah Cohen on winning the 2025 Hettleman Prize! The prestigious prize is awarded to just five promising University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill early-career faculty members who exemplify groundbreaking and innovative research along with future career promise. The late Phillip Hettleman, a member of the Carolina class...

As part of a continued collaboration, four Wake Technical Community College students will complete research intensive summer internships under the mentorship of UNC Cell Biology and Physiology principal investigators.  The Department of Cell Biology and Physiology (CBP) welcomed four Wake Technical Community College students on May 19th as part of...

In this CBP In the Loop: Spring 2025 newsletter, explore top CBP research stories, faculty and trainee research awards and honors, graduating student profiles, CBP’s new 9-month biomedical master’s program, and CBP faculty and trainee collaboration and outreach efforts. Download a PDF of the full newsletter here: CBP In the Loop_newsletter_Spring...

Trimming neuronal axons involves a distinct pathway and a rare pathogen-sensing immune protein that could have implications for Alzheimer’s disease. Neurons have the remarkable ability to kill parts of themselves without dying in a phenomenon known as axon pruning. During axon pruning, neurons trim unnecessary axons, long, threadlike projections from...