Who We Are | Core Facilities

Members	Advocacy Classification	Email
Dr. Christopher Gregory	Chair	christopher_gregory@med.unc.edu
Dr. Zoe McElligott	Animal Models	zoemce@email.unc.edu
Dr. John Sondek	Biochemistry	sondek@med.unc.edu
Dr. Brandi Reeves	Clinical/Translational	brandi_reeves@med.unc.edu
Dr. Dominc Ciavatta	Genomics	dominic_ciavatta@med.unc.edu
Dr. Richard Cheney	Imaging	richard_cheney@med.unc.edu
Dr. Jennifer Brennan	Office of Research	jenbren@med.unc.edu
Meghan Kraft	OVCR Research Core Development	meghan_kraft@med.unc.edu
Dr. Kelly Giovanello	College of Arts and Sciences	kgio@email.unc.edu
Kara Clissold	Office of Research Technologies	kara_clissold@med.unc.edu
Ben Wright	OVCR Research Core Development	bwright1@email.unc.edu

Christopher Gregory

CFAC Chair

Chris Gregory is Director of the Office of Research Technologies and serves on CFAC as the committee chair. He came to the Department of Genetics after a career in industry and now also serves as the Director of Research and a Research Professor in the Department of Genetics.

Zoe McElligott

Animal Cores Representative

Zoe McElligott serves as the CFAC representative for the Animal Models cores. She is an associate professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology. Her lab studies both alcohol and opioid use disorders in pre-clinical animal models (mainly mice). We are interested in observing changes in the brain in many capacities: from RNA, to cellular physiology and signaling, to circuit dynamics, and behaviors. We use a variety of methods including “modern neuroscience techniques” like opto-/chemo genetics, CRISPR, and GCaMP.

Animal Model cores Zoe advocates for:

Animal Clinical Chemistry Core
Animal Models Core
Biomedical Research Imaging Center – Small Animal Imaging and Center for Animal MRI
Cardiovascular Physiology and Phenotyping Core
CGIBD Gnotobiotic Core
CGIBD Histology Core
Histology Research Core Facility
Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Core Facility
Mouse Behavioral Phenotyping Core
Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center
NORC Animal Metabolism Phenotyping Core
Pathology Services Core
Preclinical Research Unit
Pulmonary and Inhalation Research Core
Research Radiation Core
UNC Systems Genetics Core
Zebrafish Aquaculture Core Facility

As new cores are established, merged, or rebranded please reach out to confirm your core’s CFAC representative if it is not on this list.

John Sondek

Biochemistry Cores Representative

John Sondek serves as the CFAC representative for the Biochemistry cores. He is a Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Biochemistry & Biophysics and is the Director of the Structural Biology Center. His active research lab studies protein complexes involved in signal transduction systems as potential targets for new therapeutics against cancer and neurological diseases. Additionally, he is part of a new NIH program project to develop high-throughput technologies to study protein-protein interactions.

Biochemistry cores John advocates for:

Biomarker Mass Spectrometry Facility
Biomolecular NMR Laboratory
Chemistry Mass Spectrometry
Chemistry NMR Facility
Chemistry X-Ray Core
Cryo-EM Core
High-Throughput Modified Peptide Library & Arrayer Facility
Macromolecular Crystallography Core Facility
Macromolecular Interactions Facility
Metabolomics and Proteomics Core
Nanomedicine Characterization Core Facility (NCore)
Metabolomics Exposome Laboratory
Michael Hooker Metabolomics and Proteomics Core
Pharmacy NMR Facility
R.L. Juliano Structural Bioinformatics Core

Brandi Reeves

Clinical Cores Representative

Brandi Reeves serves as the CFAC representative for the Clinical cores. Brandi is in the division of Hematology and studies cancer, specifically myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), bone marrow failure syndromes, lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and clonal hematopoiesis. Her research interests are two fold: (1) better understanding of the reasons for increased risk of thrombosis in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms and (2) interventional clinical trials to improve the treatment of patients with MPN, MDS, and bone marrow failure syndromes.

Clinical cores Brandi advocates for:

Biobehavioral Laboratory
Biospecimen Processing Facility
CFAR HIV/STD
CFAR Clinical Pharmacology & Analytical Chemistry
CIPHR
Connected Health Applications & Interventions
Cytokine Analysis Facility
MLI Tissue Procurement and Cell Culture
NORC Clinical & Community Human Assessment and Intervention
NORC Behavioral Assessment Core
NORC Precision Nutrition Core
Patient Reported Outcomes Core
Rapid Case Ascertainment
Respiratory TRACTS Core
Surgery Simulation Core

Dominic Ciavatta

Genomics Cores Representative

Dominic Ciavatta is a Research Professor in the Department of Genetics and UNC Kidney Center. His research investigates basic genetic, epigenetic, and immune system mechanisms underlying the pathobiology of autoimmune-mediated kidney diseases with an eye on translating those findings into targeted therapies. He is also part of UNC’s Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center (MMRRC).

Genomics cores Dominic advocates for:

Bioinformatics and Analytics Research Collaborative (BARC)
CGIBD Advanced Analytics
CRISPR Core
Functional Genomics Core
High-Throughput Sequencing Facility
Lenti shRNA
Microbiome Core
NeuroTools (BRAIN Initiative Viral Vector Core)
Translational Genomics Lab
Vector Core
Vironomics Core

Richard Cheney

Imaging Cores Representative

Richard Cheney serves as the CFAC representative for the Imaging cores. He is a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology in the School of Medicine. His lab’s research focuses on molecular motors and filopodia, notably myosin-X and it’s role in cancer invasion as potential anti-cancer therapeutic target.

Imaging cores Richard advocates for:

Biology Microscopy Core
Biomedical Research Imaging Center (Human Imaging)
Biomedical Research Imaging Center (Image Storage & Analysis)
Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Lab
Clinical Translational Core in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
Mass Cytometry Core
Flow Cytometry Core Facility
Hooker Imaging Core
Microscopy Services Laboratory
Neuroscience Imaging Core Facility

Jennifer Brennan

Director, Office of Research

Jen Brennan is the Director of the Office of Research in the School of Medicine. She is instrumental in developing and implementing a strategic plan for research in the SOM and provides support for core research facilities in that capacity.

Meghan Kraft

non-voting

Meghan Kraft is the Director of Core Facilities in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. She is a non-voting member of CFAC.

Kelly Giovanello

non-voting CAS representative

Kelly Giovanello is the Senior and Associate Dean for Research Innovation in the College of Arts and Sciences and serves on CFAC as a non-voting representative for the cores from the College of Arts and Sciences. Giovanello is the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience and has been a member of the Carolina faculty since 2006. She brings a wealth of multidisciplinary collaborative research experience to this position.

Kara Clissold

non-voting member

Kara Clissold is the Associate Director of the Office of Research Technologies within the Office of Research in the School of Medicine. She is a non-voting member of CFAC.