{"id":4705,"date":"2016-09-08T17:02:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T21:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/lori-obrien-phd\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T10:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:25:07","slug":"lori-obrien-phd","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/lori-obrien-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Lori O’Brien, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Associate Professor
\nUNC-Chapel Hill<\/p>\n

\n

Education and Training<\/h3>\n

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bacteriology, BS
\nUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Biochemistry, PhD
\nMassachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, Postdoctoral
\nUniversity of Southern California, Postdoctoral<\/p>\n

Areas of Interest<\/h3>\n

Statistics suggest that 1 in 9 Americans will be affected by kidney disease. Effective treatments remain limited, and progression to kidney failure leaves only two options: dialysis and transplant. Common
\nto t<\/span>he majority of kidney disease cases, irrespective of cause, is the compromise of nephron function. Nephrons are the workhorses of the kidney and their number is set prior to birth; no new nephrons are ever <\/span>fo<\/span>rmed. Therefore, any compromise in the number of functional nephrons-whether due to acute injury, genetic mutations, premature birth, developmental insufficiencies, or a<\/span>ging-increases the susceptibility to kidney disease. A thorough understanding of how the nephron and its specialized cell types form, function, and respond to disease will be essential for developing novel therapeutics and employing regenerative strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n

The O\u2019Brien lab studies the regulatory networks required to maintain nephron progenitors-from signals to epigenetic and transcriptional regulation-with the goal of understanding how their misregulation alters kidney development and final nephron numbers. Additionally, we are interested in how these networks contribute to the malignant transformation of nephron progenitors into Wilms\u2019 tumor and how developmental networks are utilized\/altered in these tumor cells. The lab also focuses on podocytes, a highly specialized cell type of the nephron filter. These cells have a unique and elaborate architecture with interdigitating foot processes that help form the filtration barrier of the kidney. We are interested in identifying and comparing the cellular and regulatory networks required for podocyte development versus maintenance, and how they networks are altered during kidney disease and aging. We utilize a combination of developmental and cell biology, biochemistry, modern genetic tools, high-throughput sequencing, and imaging in our research.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Awards and Honors<\/span><\/h3>\n

2016 Maren Scholar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
\n2015 Broad Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Southern California
\n<\/span>2013 Travel Award for Outstanding Abstract, International Workshop on Developmental Nephrology
\n<\/span>2010 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIH\/NIDDK
\n<\/span>2011 Completed \u2018Gene Regulatory Networks\u2019 Course, Marine Biological Laboratories
\n<\/span>2009 Best Poster, North-East Society for Developmental Biology
\n<\/span>2006 Mary Shine Peterson Graduate Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pub<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Affiliations<\/h3>\n

Cell Biology and Physiology Curriculum<\/a>
\nUNC Kidney Center<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Associate Professor UNC-Chapel Hill Education and Training University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bacteriology, BS University of Wisconsin-Madison, Biochemistry, PhD Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, Postdoctoral University of Southern California, Postdoctoral Areas of Interest Statistics suggest that 1 in 9 Americans will be affected by kidney disease. Effective treatments remain limited, and progression to kidney failure leaves … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12655,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-4705","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLori O'Brien, PhD - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/lori-obrien-phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lori O'Brien, PhD - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Associate Professor UNC-Chapel Hill Education and Training University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bacteriology, BS University of Wisconsin-Madison, Biochemistry, PhD Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, Postdoctoral University of Southern California, Postdoctoral Areas of Interest Statistics suggest that 1 in 9 Americans will be affected by kidney disease. 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