Author Archives: hashep

On September 15, 2025, Darex Vera Rodriguez, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, successfully defended his thesis titled “Role of a Flexible, Allosteric Loop in Regulating Protein Activity.” Darex conducted his research in the lab of Dr. Andrew L. Lee, where he explored protein allostery using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Mark Kowalewski successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Mucin degrading glycoside hydrolases in the gut microbiome” on March 31, 2025, under the direction of Dr. Matthew Redinbo.

Edgar Faison under the direction of Dr. Qi Zhang successfully defended her dissertation on March 20, 2025, and received his PhD!

Alejandro Lopezi under the direction of Dr. Leslie Morrow successfully defended his dissertation on January 31, 2025 and received his PhD!

A team of researchers in the Department of Chemistry has published a study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that presents new insights into these mechanisms, specifically challenging conventional understanding of cation−π interactions—a key noncovalent force that has been central to our understanding of protein binding for the last 40 years. Moreover, these findings have the potential to lead to new therapeutic approaches.

On October 9, 2024, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to David Baker (1/2) and to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper (1/2) for their groundbreaking work in computational protein design and protein structure prediction. This prestigious recognition highlights the significant contributions of Dr. Brian Kuhlman, a current faculty member at UNC, whose work during his postdoctoral fellowship with David Baker played a crucial role in this achievement.

Sarah E. Harris under the direction of Dr. Daniel Dominguez successfully defended her dissertation on September 16, 2024 and received her PhD!

Shu Zhang under the direction of Dr. Henrik Dohlman successfully defended her dissertation on August 15, 2024 and received her PhD!

The School of Medicine Dean’s Office Research awarded Pharmacology’s Nicholas Brown, PhD the Jefferson-Pilot Fellowships in Academic Medicine which are given to talented junior faculty across all disciplines in the School of Medicine.

The Graduate Fellow Awards in Basic Science is annual competitive $3,000 award for outstanding graduate students in the research programs of cancer center members who have active, peer-reviewed grant support.