Skylar Grimsley, B.S.

Skylar received her B.S. in Biology from Norfolk State University (BEHOLD) through the Dozoretz National Institute for Mathematics and Applied Sciences Program. Before beginning graduate school, she was a participant in the Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at the University of Illinois Chicago. Here, Skylar joined the Minshall lab in studying how elevated concentrations of glycosphingolipids in breast cancer patients, when incorporated onto the surface of endothelial cells, affect junctional stability and thus, the metastasis of breast cancer cells. Skylar excitedly joined the Starbird lab in September of 2023. She is currently working on a precision medicine research project to evaluate the function of the ABCA7 gene in lipid regulation and trafficking in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. Skylar is an avid traveler, having lived in Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, and now North Carolina in just 3 years. Skylar is also a passionate movie watcher and Atlantic Ocean enthusiast.