Chair’s Welcome and Departmental Vision Statement
I am delighted to have this opportunity to work with an outstanding group of faculty, as we make new discoveries at the frontiers of cell biology, developmental biology and neurobiology. We conduct basic biomedical and translational research with an emphasis on the study of diverse aspects of cellular dynamics in health, disease and therapeutic intervention using modern methods in microscopy and imaging. Our research employs multidisciplinary approaches with genetically tractable animal models and human patient cells. We are committed to provide an exemplary level of research training, teaching and mentorship of future scientists and physicians. We continue to establish new partnerships and collaborations across several academic and clinical departments within Emory University, the School of Medicine and several research centers. I look forward to supporting the research and teaching mission of our faculty, and our vision to have a transformative impact on understanding basic science to advance human health.
News Highlights
Sampson Lab
Dr. Timothy Sampson, Assistant Professor in Cell Biology, was featured in Nature for his research that links gut bacteria to Parkinson’s Disease. The story discusses how growing evidence suggests a link between the debilitating neurological illness and the microbes that live in our intestines.
Faculty Promotions
Drs. Matthew Rowan and Timothy Sampson are being promoted to Associate Professor of Cell Biology, effective September 1, 2025.
Emory URC Grant Recipients
Three faculty in Cell Biology have received an Emory University Research Committee (URC) grant for 2025: Francisco (Paco) Alvarez, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair; Jie (Jay) Jiang, PhD, Associate Professor; and Marie-Claude Perreault, PhD, Associate Professor.
New Faculty Member
We are pleased to welcome Michael Deans, PhD, who joined us January 2025 as an Associate Professor of Cell Biology. Dr. Deans was previously an Associate Professor in Otolaryngology at the University of Utah. His new lab, located on the 5th floor of WBRB, will investigate developmental mechanisms guiding planar cell polarity, cellular morphogenesis and innervation essential for auditory and vestibular function.
Lerit Lab
Temitope Adebambo, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lerit Lab, was featured in The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News, for his work advancing neurodevelopmental research.
Shekhar Lab
Shashank Shekhar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Physics, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry at Emory University, published a paper in Nature Physics titled, “Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular ciliate Stentor”. Their work uncovers novel insights into how physical forces shape the evolution of multicellularity and was featured in New York Times.
Dr. Shekhar was also named “Cell Scientist to Watch” by the Journal of Cell Science. The journal conducted an in-depth interview with Dr. Shekhar, highlighting his academic journey and his lab’s latest research.
Ward Lab
National Champion: Nikki Boon in the Ward Lab Made NCAA Division III History
Graduate student Nikki Boon from the Ward Lab made history on March 15, 2025 as she became the first-ever national champion in the indoor pentathlon in Emory University history as the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships got underway at the Golisano Fieldhouse in Rochester, New York.
Boon set a Division III national record as well as a championship meet record as she became the first woman ever at the Division III level to reach 4,000 points in the indoor pentathlon. Boon also became the second-ever Emory student-athlete to win an indoor national championship, joining Annika Urban who won the mile crown in 2023.
Garraway Lab
Ward Lab
Jill Ward, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, received the Emory Seeds to Pursue Diverse Funders pilot grant titled, “High-Resolution EMG for Motor Units following Spinal Cord Injury,” in collaboration with Sam Sober, PhD.
The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research supports collaborative projects that cross disciplinary boundaries and academic units. Up to three grants are awarded annually. These grants are intended to catalyze new collaborations in support of a multiple investigator proposal submission to extramural funding programs in order to strengthen and diversify Emory’s external funding for interdisciplinary research beyond the Department of Human Health Services funding umbrella.
Katz Lab
David Katz, PhD, was recognized by Emory School of Medicine for his recent membership to the National Wormboard.
The WormBoard is a representative group of working scientists and educators who use C. elegans or related nematodes as their primary model organism. WormBoard will meet in odd-numbered years at the biennial International C. elegans meeting, and if possible at one of the topic or regional meetings in even-numbered years. Additional business will be conducted by email or teleconference. Since its inception the C. elegans field has relied on the voluntary efforts of community-minded individuals to develop and organize key resources and meetings. As the field enters its second half-century, continued growth necessitates a more formal structure for such efforts. The International C. elegans Board (ICB), a.k.a. WormBoard, was formed in 2015 to advocate for C. elegans research internationally and to foster the continued development of community resources.
2024 SOM Researcher Appreciation Day
Congratulations to the following faculty for being recognized for 2024 Emory School of Medicine Researcher Appreciation Day:
1) Hyojung Choo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology; 2) Jie Jiang, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology; 3) Shoichiro Ono, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, seondary faculty in Cell Biology; 4) Zhexing Wen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, secondary faculty in Cell Biology.
Emory researchers were nominated by their peers and colleagues for their groundbreaking research, development of new technologies, and continued pursuit of novel and innovative ideas.
Rowan Lab
Latest Publication:
Matthew Rowan, PhD, Assistant Professor in Cell Biology, published a paper, “Entorhinal cortex vulnerability to human APP expression promotes hyperexcitability and tau pathology,” in Nature Communications, September 2024.
New Multi-PI NIH Grant:
Dr. Rowan is part of a multi-PI NIH grant, “Searching for the Goldilocks Zone of Innate Immunity in Alzheimer's Disease,” with Todd E. Golde, MD, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, and Yona Levites, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology.
The Moberg Lab
The Moberg lab published 3 recent articles in:
The Moberg lab in collaboration with the Corbett lab in the Biology Department published the article “The RNA-binding protein Nab2 regulates levels of the RhoGEF Trio to govern axon and dendrite morphology,” in Molecular Biology of the Cell.
The lab published the paper, “Local Ecdysone synthesis in a wounded epithelium sustains developmental delay and promotes regeneration in Drosophila,” in Development. Postdoc Doug Terry is first author and Dr. Ken Moberg is senior author. The article is also a Development research highlight and the authors were interviewed about their work in People Behind the Papers.