Department of Biology
Xin Li
Rotation students in BBSP or those looking to be admitted through Biology or QBio are welcome to apply.
Grad students
This is Xin Li from China, student in QBio (starting fall 2021). My research focuses on the development of C. elegans gonads and the potential functions for DTC-Sh1 system in the germline cells' development.
Noor Singh
Hello! I moved to the United States from New Delhi to start college studying Biology at the University of Chicago, where I also worked as a lab manager in the Vicky Prince Lab in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and just started at UNC through the BBSP umbrella program! I have long been interested in cellular-level changes that enable the astonishing, large-scale movements of morphogenesis and hope to expand on these interests in the Gordon lab by studying the developmental regulation of the stem cell niche in the C. elegans gonad.
Fred
Koitz
I graduated from Muhlenberg College and recently started graduate school at UNC in the Genetics and Molecular Biology program. I'm thoroughly enchanted by the C. elegans dauer- a stress-induced period of developmental stasis. A hallmark of this specialized larval stage is a cessation of gonad migration and germline proliferation; however, upon a return to favorable conditions, the nematode exits this state and resumes development into reproductive adulthood. I'm interested in how genetic cues signal the resumption of the migration of the somatic gonad and proliferation of the germline when exiting the dauer state, and how typical reproductive developmental cues might be disrupted by a prolonged period of dauer.
Graduate Alumni
QBio student and former undergraduate honors student Ryan Merritt graduated in 2024 with his M.S. Check out his paper here. Congratulations Ryan!
Postdoctoral scholar
Dr. Tao Ke
I started working with C. elegans 8 years ago and became very interested in this model organism since then. I have experience in creating transgenic C. elegans strains with CRISPR and using this model to investigate dopaminergic neurodegeneration and cargo sorting mechanisms in primary cilia of C. elegans neurons. I am current working on how environmental stress modulates germline stem cells through signaling in the germ cell stem niche- the distal tip cells in C. elegans gonads. Outside of lab, I like fishing, martial art and reading.
Postdoc Alumni
Dr. Brian Kinney
Dr. Brian Kinney is starting as an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.
Dr. Sheldon Lawrence
Dr. Kayt Scott
Dr. Sheldon Lawrence is now an Assistant Professor at Oxford College of Emory University. ​
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Dr. Scott joined us as a SPIRE Fellow in 2021 and moved into industry in 2022. Good luck Kayt!
Lab members
The Gordon lab is often looking for postdocs, grad students, undergrads, and technicians who are interested in stem cells, development, and evolution. Please see Contact to get in touch!
Lab manager
Camille Miller
I studied biology at UNC-Chapel Hill with a second major in anthropology. I have always been interested in genetics and evolution. I am excited for this opportunity to learn more about this field.
Undergraduates
My name is Dhriti Koneru and I am a freshman studying Neuroscience with a Data Science Minor. I am also on the pre-medicine path
Recently graduated undergraduate lab members are
Jason Menjivar-Hernandez,
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Alexi Callinicos
Kayah Takei ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​
Bintou Sosseh
More Undergrad Alums
​India Washington
Jay Proctor
Madonna Baselios
Karen Li
Collaborators and prior affiliations
The Gordon Lab is open to collaboration within and outside of UNC. Check out Research for our work with collaborators.
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Before starting the lab at UNC, Dr. Gordon worked at Duke University with Dr. David Sherwood. She did her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago with Dr. Ilya Ruvinsky.
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