Department of Cell Biology

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.

DECEMBER 31, 2024, IN MEMORY OF DR. ACHILLES (OGGIE) PAPPANO

 

We are sorry to share the sad news that Dr. Achilles “Oggie” Pappano, Professor Emeritus at UConn Health, passed away on December 31, 2024.

Dr. Pappano received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, and after a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, joined the University of Connecticut faculty in the Department of Pharmacology in 1968 when he joined the inaugural faculty at the newly established UConn School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Graduate Medical Education, where he built his own research lab and taught thousands of students for 44 years.  He moved to the Department of Cell Biology in 2007 and retired in 2009 but continued on for several years teaching medical students as a re-employeed retiree.

He is internationally recognized for his discoveries about autonomic regulation of pacemaker activity and excitation-contraction in the heart. He is also recognized for his exceptional contributions to medical student education.

During his tenure at UConn Health, he received the distinguished National Institutes of Health (NIH) Career Development Award for Young Scientists/MERIT. He served on the National Board of Medical Examiners and on study sections of the NIH. Dr. Pappano received the Charles Loeser Award for outstanding teaching in the basic science curriculum from the University of Connecticut Health Center and the Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching at the graduate level from the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Pappano is survived by his wife Mary Ann, their 4 children, 5 grandchildren, as well as his many friends at UConn Health. We will miss him.

His obituary can be found here.