The Biological and Biomedical research program includes a diverse range of research interests across multiple sites and campuses. Our research facilities are located in the Mary M. Townes Science Complex, in the Julius L. Chamber’s Biomedical and Biotechnological Research Institute (JLC-BBRI) on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham, and at the NC Nutritional Center in Kannapolis, NC. Research groups are composed of highly skilled research scientists, technicians, and our undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences and related departments. Our researchers utilize genetic, cellular and molecular biology approaches using model organisms and systems such as Drosophila, zebrafish, mice, microbes, and mammalian cell cultures as well as clinical and primate samples to conduct studies in the following areas of research:
- Cancer biology (prostate, pancreatic, breast, etc.)
- Drs. Antonio Baines, Delores Grant, TinChung Leung, Ricardo Richardson, Xiaohe Yang and Nicole Salazar Velmeshev
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Immunology
- Drs. Lindsey Costantini, Alex Marshall and Vijay Sivaraman
- Microbiology and virology
- Drs. Lindsey Costantini, Julie Horvath, Veronica Nwosu, Rob Onyenwoke and Vijay Sivaraman
- Neuroscience (drugs and alcohol and neurodegenerative diseases)
- Reproductive science
- Dr. Chloe Josefson
- Science education
- Drs. Wendy Grillo, Gail Hollowell, Chloe Josefson, Cathy Key and Veronica Nwosu
- Toxicology
- Drs. Antonio Baines and Tirupapuliyur Damodaran
The Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department maintains strong research collaborations with area institutes and universities, including, but not limited to, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS), NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Research Triangle Park, Duke University, NC State, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). These collaborations foster cooperative grants and research productivity within North Carolina. These collaborations fund research projects and, just as importantly, provide opportunities for students to pursue research at neighboring institutes and universities.
Please see individual faculty profiles for details about specific research programs and refer to the Research Project Portal.