Research in the Department of Cell Biology is concerned with cells as well as how cells function in the context of the various tissues of the body. Our goal is to discover molecular and physiological mechanisms that underlie the treatment and prevention of human disease.
The department faculty participate in the first year medical and dental student curriculum, and the Foundations of Biomedical Science course for graduate students. Several faculty are also contributors to medical student textbooks.
The core of the department consists of former members of the Department of Physiology, which was chaired by Richard D. Berlin for over 30 years. He oversaw the change to Cell Biology, the addition of members from the former Departments of Pharmacology and Anatomy, and the formation of the Center for Vascular Biology (Pat Murphy, Director) and the Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling (Pedro Mendes, Director). The Department of Cell Biology is also the academic home for basic science faculty members in the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center (Christopher Pickett, Director). The department organizes the annual Richard D. Berlin lecture.
Cell Biology Retreat
Cell Biology and Vascular Biology, 2024 retreat at the Hill-Stead (photo by John Atashian)
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice
The Department of Cell Biology is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Our faculty have diverse ethnic origins, and 56% of the faculty and 60% of the full professors are women.
Actions by members of the Department of Cell Biology to improve DEIJ include an NIH R25 grant to Leslie Caromile and Kim Dodge-Kafka, “Increasing research experiences for multicultural students” (2022-2025). This 10-week summer research program is aimed at undergraduates from historically underrepresented groups. It is designed to promote students’ interest in, application to, and matriculation into biomedical science Ph.D. programs by providing them with a mentored, research-intensive summer program.
Another departmental initiative to improve DEIJ is our educational exchange between UConn Health Cell Biology and UConn Waterbury. Dr. Susan Preston-Berlin, a faculty member at UConn Waterbury and an affiliated faculty member of the UCH Cell Biology Department coordinates this exchange. The diverse and underrepresented population of undergraduate students on the Waterbury campus benefits from opportunities to participate in research in Cell Biology Department labs, and our labs benefit from their participation. This mutually beneficial exchange also includes Cell Biology students and postdocs presenting talks about their research for the Waterbury cell biology course.
One area where equity could be improved at UConn Health and nationally is in the allocation of endowed positions. Endowed chairs and professorships are prestigious and financially important awards that are a symbol of individual faculty recognition by their institution. Our analysis of the gender distribution of endowed positions across U.S. medical schools revealed a large disparity (Thorndyke et al.,2022). A 2023 national survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges documented this disparity (Lautenberger and Dandar, 2024; Figure 21). At UConn Health, only 17% of endowed positions are held by women as of July 2025 (https://www.foundation.uconn.edu/endowed-chairs/).
Department News
July 2025
After 32 years in the cell biology office, Lorri Goldsmith retires, and Tracy Hintz takes over. Happy retirement Lorri and welcome Tracy!
Seminars 2025
January 7, 2025
Tabea Marx, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Gottingen, Germany. "An ex vivo model system to visualize ovulation" (Jaffe, Host)
February 26, 2025
Guangfu Li, UConn Health. “Impact of western diet on the metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and liver cancer” (Yee, Host)
March 12, 2025
Evelyn Houliston, Sorbonne Université, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. "Oocyte maturation and spawning in jellyfish Clytia" (Terasaki, Host).
May 7, 2025
Allessandro Alessandrini, Mass General. “The Road to Tolerance: The Reprogramming and the Stealth Preservation of Immunogenicity within the Accepted Kidney Graft” (Murphy, Host).
June 6, 2025
Kenichi Miharada, Kumamoto University, Japan. "Unraveling novel fetal-maternal mechanisms regulating fetal development" (Oguro, Host).
July 30, 2025
Joanna Gell, UConn School of Medicine, Connecticut Children’s.“Utilizing induced pluripotent stem cell derived primordial germ cell-like cells to gain insight into human germline development and tumorigenesis.”(Inaba-Oguro, Host).
October 8, 2025
Natalie Niemi, Washington University in St. Louis. “Mitochondrial regulation from the inside out”(Sarabipour, Host).
October 10, 2025
Linda Rice, Jazz Pharmaceuticals. “My Med Comm Career and Top Writing Tips I've Learned along the way”(Mehlmann, Host).
October 29, 2025
Gordon Carmichael, Cell and Genome Engineering Core, UConn Health. “The Cell and Genome Engineering Core – how can we help?”. (Jaffe, Host).
November 12, 2025
Noor Jailkhani, MIT and MatrisomeBio."Harnessing the Extracellular Matrix in disease: Nanobody-Based Strategies for Therapy and Diagnosis" (Murhpy, Host).
December 17, 2025
Jordan Pober, Yale School of Medicine (Murphy, Host).
Seminars 2026
January 21, 2026
Mihaela Serpe, NICHD/NIH (Inaba-Oguro, Host).