Who Is Who in CBIO Labs?

Did you know there are more than 24 labs in the Cellular Biology Department, leading cutting-edge research across multiple research areas? The thirst for knowledge has garnered incredible advancements within the Department of Cellular Biology, and the CBIO Labs are proof. Areas of research include immunology of malaria, metacognitive development of life science majors, T-cell immunity, cellular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, and many more. Let’s take a deeper dive and look at the leaders (in alphabetical order) who run these labs with details on their areas of research.

Dr. Oshri Avraham, Assistant Professor

The Avraham lab develops advanced genetic tools to identify and distinguish dozens of glial cell types and track their dynamics throughout development. These tools enable precise investigation and manipulation of peripheral glial cells, providing insights into their functions in maintaining health and uncovering their behavior and roles in the context of neurological diseases. 

Dr. Molly Bolger, Associate Professor

The Bolger lab focuses on improving undergraduate science education by developing curricula that enhance scientific reasoning and research practices. Their work emphasizes promoting STEM persistence, especially for underrepresented groups, through innovative teaching methods. The lab also designs professional development programs for instructors and examines the impact of science practices on student motivation and learning.

Dr. Haini Cai, Associate Professor

The Cai lab research focuses on how chromatin structure and epigenetic modifications regulate developmental gene expression. The lab studies chromatin boundary elements (CBEs) and their role in organizing genes into functional domains, particularly in Drosophila. The goal is to understand how CBEs contribute to gene regulation in development and disease.

Dr. Roberto Docampo, Distinguished Research Professor and GRA Eminent Scholar 

The Docampo lab studies calcium homeostasis and signaling in trypanosomes causing Chagas disease and sleeping sickness. Current efforts are in elucidating the role of calcium channels (InsP3 receptor, mitochondrial calcium uniporter, voltage dependent calcium channel, and Piezo channels), and in the association of calcium to polyphosphate in acidocalcisomes, organelles widely distributed. 

Dr. Scott Dougan, Associate Professor

The Dougan lab studies axis formation and cell fate decisions in early vertebrate development, using zebrafish as a model system. The presumptive Anterior-Posterior body axis is established during oogenesis by an unknown mechanism that requires ciliary microtubules that transiently appear on oocytes. Our current research focus is to understand how ciliary function polarizing oocytes. 

Dr. Drew Etheridge, Assistant Professor

The Etheridge lab focuses on the parasitic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii, studying how it manipulates host cells to sustain its lifecycle, especially in chronic infection stages. The lab’s work aims to understand how secreted proteins alter the host environment, contributing to immune evasion and cyst formation.

Dr. Mark Farmer, Professor

The Farmer lab explores the origins of the eukaryotic cell from prokaryotic ancestors. Using a variety of molecular and morphological tools, he explores the diversity of Eukaryotic life forms (particularly protists) to better understand what the earliest evolving cells with nuclei were like. 

Dr. Jacek Gaertig, Professor 

The Gaertig lab studies how organelle patterns form inside cells. Using the model ciliate Tetrahymena and genetic approaches, we explore how cells determine the number, size and positions of organelles (such as cilia) in relation to the cell polarity axes. 

Dr. Daichi Kamiyama, Associate Professor

The Kamiyama lab investigates brain neuron development, focusing on the molecular and cellular dynamics of neuron connections, including axons, dendrites, and synapses. Using fruit flies and human cell cultures, our research explores how these connections influence brain health and neurological diseases.

Dr. Edward Kipreos, Professor 

The Kipreos lab studies the role of folates (a B vitamin) in signaling. In C. elegans, folates stimulate the proliferation of germ stem cells and activate serotonergic neurons to control behavior. The laboratory also works on how cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases are globally regulated to control protein degradation. 

Dr. Kim Klonowski, Associate Professor 

The Klonowski lab studies T cell immunity to respiratory infection across the lifespan. Using primarily mouse models of influenza infection, we seek to understand how T cell responses are regulated in the lung microenvironment to confer protection without prolonged damage to the host. These processes are distinct in earlier versus later in life and understanding these differences is crucial for developing age- appropriate vaccines. 

Dr. Heike Kroeger, Assistant Research Scientist 

The Kroeger lab investigates vision loss caused by cellular stress signaling, focusing on the role of endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis in maintaining retinal health. Using stem cell models and an innovative lizard model, we study cone photoreceptor cells critical for color vision. Our research aims to uncover mechanisms driving vision loss to develop targeted therapies. 

Dr. Sam Kurup, Associate Professor 

The Krup lab is focused on understanding the mechanism of natural and acquired immunity to malaria investigating the cellular and molecular pathways that help detect and control Plasmodium parasites in the liver and blood stages of the infection. Our goal is to understand the immunology of malaria in order to help design vaccines and drugs that can control and eliminate malaria.

Dr. Dennis Kyle, Professor, Director of Center for Tropical & Emerging Global Diseases

The Kyle lab focuses on developing new treatments for parasitic diseases like malaria and free-living amoeba infections. Our lab investigates drug resistance mechanisms and aims to overcome challenges such as multidrug resistance and the hypnozoite stage in malaria. We also explore innovative drug development for amoebic infections, which have limited treatment options.

Dr. Jim Lauderdale, Associate Professor, Cellular Biology Department Head

The Lauderdale lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms behind the development of the vertebrate central nervous system, especially the forebrain and visual system. We study the role of the PAX6 gene in eye development and brain formation, as well as a novel gene, La Femme d' Cot (LFDC), which may play a role in neural development.

Dr. Karl Lechtreck, Professor 

The Lechtreck lab focuses on Cilia and flagella, widely distributed cell organelles with motile and sensory functions. Loss of cilia function causes diseases characterized, e.g., by male infertility, blindness, skeletal malformations, and kidney cysts. Using in vivo imaging, biochemistry and molecular genetics in the unicellular model Chlamydomonas, we analyze how disease-related mutations affect cilia assembly and function. 

Dr. Silvia Moreno, Distinguished Research Professor 

The Moreno lab studies calcium signaling and its role in the pathogenesis of Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite responsible for serious disease in humans and animals. Drug discovery and target validation is an additional area of interest with focus on divergent mitochondrial proteins. The lab uses a variety of cellular and molecular tools. 

Dr. Vasant Muralidharan, Professor

The Muralidharan lab investigates the biology of Plasmodium parasites, focusing on their organelles, such as the endoplasmic reticulum and apicoplast, which are vital for parasite survival and host interaction. Our lab aims to identify potential drug targets by studying how these organelles function and contribute to the parasite's ability to infect red blood cells.

Dr. Rachel Roberts- Galbraith, Assistant Professor 

The Roberts-Galbraith lab – After injury, an organism must mount a series of responses to minimize and repair damage. Humans regenerate relatively poorly, but other organisms-like planarian flatworms-regenerate perfectly after any injury. We study planarians to discover the cells and molecules that drive regeneration, with hopes to inspire future regenerative therapies. 

Dr. Tati Russo-Tait, Assistant Professor

The Tati Russo-Tait ACCESS lab examines equity and justice issues in college biology/STEM education, with the goal of supporting the development of critically conscious scientists, educators, and administrators who can design humanizing learning environments and equity-minded cultures, policies, and institutions. 

Dr. Cordula Schulz, Associate Professor, Associate Head of Cellular Biology 

The Schulz lab studies stem cells in the gonad of Drosophila melanogaster, focusing on their interactions with environment cells that regulate activity and gametogenesis. Using genetic, molecular, and cell-biological approaches, we investigate how stem cells produce differentiated daughters in response to demand and how these daughters manage amplification divisions. 

Dr. Julie Stanton, Professor of Cellular Biology, Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor 

The Stanton lab supports learning and persistence in undergraduate science majors. Our biology education research lab focuses on (1) metacognitive development of life science majors, (2) Community Cultural Wealth of Black students in biology, and (3) the experiences of science students from rural backgrounds.

Dr. Rick Tarleton, Regents Professor, UGA Athletic Association Distinguished Professor

The Tarleton labs focuses exclusively on the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas disease, taking a wide-ranging approach to understand the host- (human, dog, macaque and mouse in our case) parasite interaction and are particularly interested in immunological, molecular, biological and bioinformatic studies that have a potential for identifying therapeutic interventions for this infection.

Dr. Nadja Zeltner, Associate Professor 

The Zeltner lab's main research interests have the common goal to advance the understanding of human disorders and find novel treatments. We are using human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to generate cell types specifically affected in disorders of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). These cells are utilized to establish human in vitro disease models to gain molecular mechanistic insight into the diseases.