Department of Biology
Lab members
The Gordon lab is always looking for postdocs, grad students, undergrads, and technicians who are interested in stem cells, development, and evolution. Please see Contact to get in touch!
Camille
Miller
Lab technician
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
We look forward to welcoming back Bintou Sosseh for fall 2022!
I am an undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill pursuing a major in Biology with a double minor in Chemistry and Studio Art. I plan to matriculate into dental school in the fall of 2024. Born in Raleigh NC and raised in The Gambia, West Africa. I have always been curious about the world around me; so naturally, I wanted to attain an in-depth understanding of cellular function and physiology. I developed a greater fascination for cell biology and morphogenesis in Dr. Gordon’s class and I welcome the opportunity to study stem cell interactions and regulation in C. elegans.
Undergrad Alums
Congratulations to India Washington and Jay Proctor, who graduated this spring.
We look forward to continuing to work with Ryan Merritt, who returns as a grad student in the fall.
Postdocs
Dr. Brian Kinney
I earned my undergraduate degrees in Biology at the University of Southern Maine and Professional Music at Berklee College of Music. In 2018 I earned my Ph.D in Genetics working in the Martin lab at Stony Brook University in New York where I studied neuromesodermal progenitor cell fate in the developing zebrafish tailbud. For my postdoctoral work I joined the Hammell lab at Cold Spring Harbor where I worked on the mechanism of pulsatile lin-4 transcription and how it regulates developmental timing during C. elegans larval development. I joined the Gordon Lab in August of 2022 and I plan on studying the effect of developmental timing regulators on the development of the somatic gonad and germline migration.
Postdoc Alumni
Dr. Sheldon Lawrence
Dr. Lawrence is now an Assistant Professor at Oxford College of Emory University. He completed a BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology at Hampton University in 2012 and a PhD in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Florida in 2018. He was a Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research & Education (SPIRE) postdoctoral research fellow and member of the Gordon lab from 2020-2021. Good luck Sheldon!
Dr. Kayt Scott
Dr. Scott joined us as a SPIRE Fellow in 2021 and moved into industry in 2022. Good luck Kayt!
II attended Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, where earned a degree in Biology in 2016. In 2021 I acquired my doctorate in Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development in the lab of Dr. Bruce Appel at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2021.
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.
Collaborators and prior affiliations
The Gordon Lab is open to collaboration within and outside of UNC. Check out Research for our work with collaborators.
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.