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 (Linda Shapiro, 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, Interim Director) and the Center for Quantitative Medicine (Pedro Mendes, 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)
Department News
October 2024, Inaba Lab Publication in Developmental Biology
Congratulations to Emma Beard and Mayu Inaba for their publication in Developmental Biology
Emma Kristine Beard, Rachael P Norris, Miki Furusho, Mark Terasaki, Mayu Inaba. Soma-to-germline BMP signal is essential for Drosophila spermiogenesis. Developmental Biology (2025) 517:140-147.
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. (Oguro, Host).
July 30, 2025
Joanna Gell, UConn School of Medicine, Connecticut Children’s. (Inaba-Oguro, Host).
October 8, 2025
Natalie Niemi, Washington University in St. Louis (Sarabipour, Host).
November 8, 2025
Noor Jailkhani, MIT and MatrisomeBio (Murhpy, Host).