Research Interests
Keywords: Stress, Aging, Epigenetics
A particular focus of our lab is how epigenetic changes contribute to stress-related somatic and behavioral phenotypes. Epigenetic changes are a set of chemical modifications that influence how genes work without altering the genetic code itself. Because these changes can result from environmental exposures, the epigenome acts as a molecular interface that fine-tunes gene and cell function in response to life experiences. We examine how lasting epigenetic patterns result from stressful experiences, accrue throughout life, and can in turn shape health or disease trajectories. While we employ a life course perspective, we are especially interested in the upper end of the age spectrum and the role of stress epigenetics in aging-related disease. For more information, please visit https://www.med.unc.edu/psych/research/zannas-lab/.
Mentor Training:
- Faculty Mentoring Workshop for Biomedical Researchers
- Relational Leadership
Anthony S. Zannas in UNC Genetics News

April 10, 2023
Department of Genetics Publications for March 26th – April 8th, 2023
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 10 papers during March 26th – April 8th, 2023.

March 27, 2023
Department of Genetics Publications for March 12th – 25th, 2023
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 8 papers during March 12th – 25th, 2023. Schizophrenia risk conferred by rare protein-truncating variants is conserved across diverse human populations. Liu D, Meyer D, Fennessy B, Feng C, Cheng E, Johnson JS, Park YJ, Rieder MK, Ascolillo S, de Pins A, Dobbyn A, Lebovitch D, Moya …

January 2, 2023
Department of Genetics Publications for December 18th – 31st, 2022
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 10 papers during December 18th – 31st, 2022.

December 18, 2022
Department of Genetics Publications for December 4th – 17th, 2022
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 8 papers during December 4th – 17th, 2022.

December 5, 2022
Department of Genetics Publications for November 20th – December 3rd, 2022
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 12 papers during November 20th – December 3rd, 2022.

September 12, 2022
Department of Genetics Publications for August 28th – September 10th, 2022
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 11 papers during August 28th – September 10th, 2022.

January 3, 2022
Stein and Zannas Awarded NeuroSpark Pilot Grants
As part of the Forward Together Strategic Plan, the UNC School of Medicine committed $100,000 this year to fund pilot neuroscience research projects through the NeuroSpark event.

September 7, 2021
Department of Genetics Publications August 22nd – September 4th 2021
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 9 papers during August 22nd – September 4th 2021. SnapHiC: a computational pipeline to identify chromatin loops from single-cell Hi-C data. Yu M, Abnousi A, Zhang Y, Li G, Lee L, Chen Z, Fang R, Lagler TM, Yang Y, Wen J, Sun Q, Li Y, …

May 29, 2021
Department of Genetics Publications for May 16-29, 2021
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published nineteen papers during May 16-29, 2021.

December 14, 2020
Department of Genetics Publications for Nov. 29 – Dec. 12, 2020
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published ten papers during November 29 – December 12, 2020.