{"id":7,"date":"2017-06-28T22:15:26","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T02:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-03-02T07:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T12:14:48","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-7\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-7-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-7-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-7-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website.jpg\" alt=\"preovulatory follicle\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2048\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Leftpanel_website-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-7-0-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-7-0-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel.jpg\" alt=\"preovulatory follicle after LH\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2048\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2928\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/MiddlePanel-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-7-0-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-7-0-2-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel.jpg\" alt=\"follicle after ovulation\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2048\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2023\/04\/Rightpanel-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-7-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-7-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-7-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div class=\"content-box panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-7-1-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/vascular-biology\/\">Center for Vascular Biology<\/a> (Pat Murphy, Director) and the <a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-analysis-modeling\/\">Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling<\/a> (Pedro Mendes, Director). The Department of Cell Biology is also the academic home for basic science faculty members in the <a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cardiology\/\">Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center<\/a> (Christopher Pickett, Director). The department organizes the annual Richard D. Berlin lecture.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-7-1-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce\" data-index=\"4\" ><div class=\"content-box panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-7-1-0-1\" ><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Department Activities<\/h3><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/?p=3972\">Wednesday Research Presentations 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/the-richard-d-berlin-lectureship\/\">Richard D. Berlin Lectureship<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/past-research-presentations\/\">Past Research Presentations<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/past-news\/\">Past News<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/11\/monstermash.mp4\">Monster Mash<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-7-1-0-2\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image\" data-index=\"5\" ><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Cell Biology Retreat<\/h3><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_self\" class=\"widget_sp_image-image-link\" title=\"Cell Biology Retreat\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1593\" alt=\"Retreat photo\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-1024x637.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-768x478.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-1536x956.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-2048x1274.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2024\/10\/2024-Cell-Biology-Retreat-scaled.jpg\" \/><\/a><div class=\"widget_sp_image-description\" ><p>Cell Biology and Vascular Biology, 2024 retreat at the Hill-Stead (photo by John Atashian)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-7-1-0-3\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-last-child\" data-index=\"6\" ><div class=\"content-box panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-7-1-0-3\" ><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice<\/h3><div class=\"textwidget\"><p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Actions by members of the Department of Cell Biology to improve DEIJ include an NIH R25 grant to Leslie Caromile and Kim Dodge-Kafka, \u201cIncreasing research experiences for multicultural students\u201d (2022-2025). This 10-week summer research program is aimed at undergraduates from historically underrepresented groups. It is designed to promote students\u2019 interest in, application to, and matriculation into biomedical science Ph.D. programs by providing them with a mentored, research-intensive summer program.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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 (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2025\/10\/Thorndyke_2022.pdf\">Thorndyke et al.,2022<\/a>). A 2023 national survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges documented this disparity (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2025\/10\/Lautenberger-and-Dandar-2024.pdf\">Lautenberger and Dandar, 2024<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2025\/10\/Figure-21.pdf\">Figure 21<\/a>). At UConn Health, only 20.5% of endowed positions are held by women as of March 2026 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundation.uconn.edu\/endowed-chairs\/\" rel=\"\">https:\/\/www.foundation.uconn.edu\/endowed-chairs\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-7-1-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-7-1-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child\" data-index=\"7\" ><div class=\"content-box panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-7-1-1-0\" ><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Department News<\/h3><div class=\"textwidget\"><h4>February\u00a0 2026, Rebecca Page awarded an international consortium grant to discover antibiotics with high barriers to resistance:<\/h4>\n<div class=\"article-citation\">\n<div class=\"article-source\">\n<div class=\"journal-actions dropdown-block\">\n<div id=\"full-view-journal\" class=\"journal-actions-dropdown dropdown dropdown-container\" aria-label=\"Dropdown menu for journal Developmental biology\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2026\/02\/Page-figure-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2026\/02\/Page-figure-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"506\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2026\/02\/Page-figure-1.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2026\/02\/Page-figure-1-300x119.jpg 300w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2026\/02\/Page-figure-1-1024x405.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/115\/2026\/02\/Page-figure-1-768x304.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(see <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-66095-y\">Hunashal et al., 2025, Nature Communications<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-7-1-1-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-last-child\" data-index=\"8\" ><div class=\"content-box panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-7-1-1-1\" ><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Seminars 2026<\/h3><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><strong>January 21, 2026<\/strong><br \/>\n<span>Mihaela Serpe,<\/span> NICHD\/NIH. \u201cMechanisms of synapse assembly, developmental plasticity and homeostasis\u201d <span>(Inaba-Oguro, Host).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/past-seminars\/\">Past Seminars<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-blank.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-11 15:14:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":382,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4014,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions\/4014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/cell-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}