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Our Team
Principal Investigator
Email: redinbo@unc.edu
Office: 4350 Genome Sciences Building
Matthew R. Redinbo, PhD
Matt grew up in New York and California and earned a BS in Biochemistry from UC Davis in 1990, with a minor in English Literature. He received his PhD in Biochemistry and structural biology from UCLA in 1995. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1999, where he published the crystal structures of human topoisomerase I in complexes with DNA. He was awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biological Sciences in 1999, the year he started his faculty position at UNC Chapel Hill. He was tenured in 2004, promoted to Professor in 2007, and started a term as Chair of UNC’s Department of Chemistry in 2009. He was a visiting fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford from 2013-2014, and was named a Fellow of the AAAS in 2015. He is currently Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Genomics at UNC Chapel Hill. He has been recognized with awards for his research, teaching and mentoring. Matt and his wife Liz have one dog and two sons. In his spare time, Matt enjoys reading (mostly fiction), playing his guitar (poorly), and (slowly) swimming, biking, and running.
Research Assistant Professor
Adam D. Lietzan, DMD, PhD, MS
Adam is from a small town in southern Delaware. After completing undergraduate studies in Biology from McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), Adam received a PhD from Marquette University with an emphasis in structural biology. He then continued his desire for knowledge by obtaining a DMD from Temple University and recently completed his specialty training in periodontics and dental implantology from UNC. Fun Fact: Adam plays a vital role as the official team dentist for the Redinbo Lab.
Email: lietzan@email.unc.edu
Post Doctoral Fellows
Joshua B. Simpson, PhD
Josh was raised in Sneads Ferry, NC and received his BS in Biochemistry from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an undergraduate, he investigated mechanisms by which probiotic bacteria enhance host health and metabolism in the laboratories of Drs. M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril and Ian Carroll. Josh graduated in 2022 from the UNC Department of Chemistry with his PhD, where he explored endobiotic and drug metabolism by gut microbes using structural biology, bioinformatics, and mouse model techniques. He is currently a post-doc in the Redinbo lab. Some of Josh’s non-scientific hobbies include kayaking, playing musical instruments, and gardening.
Email: joshsimp@live.unc.edu
Jianan Zhang, PhD
Jianan is from Shijiazhuang, China. She has a B.S. degree in Food Quality and Safety from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan; a B.A. degree in English from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan; a M.E. degree in Processing and Storage of Agricultural Products from China Agricultural University in Beijing; and a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The research done during her Ph.D. investigated the dietary and environmental risk factors of colon inflammation and cancer. Currently, Jianan is a post doc in the Redinbo lab and will study the interactions of gut microbiota with NSAIDs. In her daily life, Jianan loves to watch movies, go to concerts, and hang around with friends and laugh hard.
Email: jiananz@unc.edu
Graduate Students
Mark E. Kowalewski
Mark is from Belmont, North Carolina, and received his BS in Chemistry from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an undergraduate, Mark worked in the Dingemans lab studying high performance polymers. Following graduation, Mark worked for a small biotechnology company in Durham where he gained experience in drug discovery and development. Currently, Mark is a fourth-year graduate student in the Biochemistry and Biophysics department and is interested in using structural biology to guide drug design. Outside of lab, Mark enjoys watching and obsessing over UNC sports and playing video games.
Email: markek@live.unc.edu
McKenzie K. Grundy
McKenzie is from Fremont, CA and received her BS in Biology from Chatham University with minors in Mathematics and Political Science. After graduation, she worked in the Bernstein lab at the University of Pittsburgh studying cancer-associated mutations in DNA repair genes. She also worked in the Yanowitz lab at the Magee-Womens Research Institute where she studied the effects of RNA helicases on germline development in C. elegans. McKenzie is currently a third-year graduate student in the Pharmacology department and is exploring the role of bile acids in inflammatory bowel disease. When she is not in lab, McKenzie enjoys horseback riding, cooking, and trying really hard to keep her plants alive.
Email: mgrundy@unc.edu
Lauren E. Hutchinson
Lauren was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. She received dual degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry in addition to a minor in music for flute performance from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. During her undergraduate career, she worked in the lab of Dale Wilger where she researched novel hydroarylation reactions using nickel catalysis. Lauren is currently a second-year student in the chemistry department and is investigating the gut microbiome’s role in drug reactivation and subsequent toxicity. In her free time, Lauren enjoys music, watching the Baltimore Orioles, and reading.
Email: lhutchi@unc.edu
Olivia L. Maurer
Olivia is from Frankenmuth, Michigan, and received her BS in Biochemistry from Grand Valley State University. As an undergraduate, she was a member of the Wallar lab where she investigated the structure/function relationship of beta-lactamases and their contribution to antibiotic resistance. Olivia is currently a second-year graduate student in the Biochemistry and Biophysics department and is interested in studying functional differences of gut microbial enzymes using structural biology. In her spare time, Olivia enjoys reading, trying new coffee shops, and attending local trivia nights with friends.
Email: maurero@email.unc.edu
Brian Jeong Joo Pyo
Brian is from Seoul, South Korea. He received his BS in Food Bioscience & Technology with a double major in Medical Convergence Engineering from Korea University, and MS in Pharmacy (Systems Toxicology) from Seoul National University. After graduation, he worked at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology for three years as a research scientist before he joined BBSP. Brian is currently a first-year student in the Curriculum of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine and is interested in studying the interaction between gut microbiome and xenobiotics. Outside of lab, Brian enjoys watching movies, playing tennis, cooking, baking, and brewing coffee with his manual espresso machine.
Email: brianpyo@med.unc.edu
Lab Manager / Research Technician
Josh J. Sekela
Josh is a computational tech and lab manager from coastal NC. He currently works with Josh Simpson to investigate the activity of gut microbial enzymes using bioinformatics and data science. He is broadly interested in learning about the structure and function of proteins, as well as their roles in disease. Josh also enjoys nature, biking, and music.
Email: jsekela@email.unc.edu
Lab Pets
Mabel
Mabel is a small, over-enthusiastic house hippo who has perfected the art of the butt-tuck-and-run zoomie. She loves laying out in the sun for hours and drinking dirty puddle water, despite having perfectly good tap water at home. Her perfect day would consist of hanging out in the Domino's parking lot trying to find any pizza slices and/or chicken bones you may have accidentally dropped on the way out.
Adley
Adley is 9 pounds of trouble and sweetness rolled all into one. He explores the mysteries of how birds can fly and what the squirrels are plotting. During his free time, Adley loves to hang his head out of the window on car rides, climb anything he can get his paws on (especially his mom), and enjoys beating all his opponents at hide-and-go-seek.
Shadow
Shadow is a pug with the heart of gold and speed of a greyhound. Paradoxically, she enjoys running zoomies, resistance training with her parents, and bragging about her 6% body fat.
Woody
Woody is a two-year old goofball who romps around Matt’s house with his family. He likes playing “rope” and “broom”, will “get the ball” but won’t “leave it”, and is very happy to help us out by LOUDLY announcing that visitors have arrived. He even gets to visit the lab sometimes, although he stays outside so he can keep an eye on the squirrels.
Piper
Piper is a 9-and-a-half-pound Hemingway cat. What she lacks in people skills, she makes up for in her extra toes. Piper’s research interests include studying the capabilities of mammals to photosynthesize and ensuring that gravity is always functioning normally. When Piper isn’t researching, you can regularly find her on the back of any couch in the house, especially next to a window. Piper also enjoys practicing her boxing skills on Dean’s face.
Dean
Dean is an extra-large-sized corgi with a big personality. When he isn’t chasing his older sister, Piper, around the house, you can regularly find him becoming the physical embodiment of a couch potato. Some of Dean’s research interests include performing Jedi mind tricks on his parents for treats and seeing how long he can bark at nonexistent sounds before his parents tell him to be quiet. Dean also has a strong dislike for emotions of any kind and especially takes offense if you sneeze in his presence.
Lab Alumni
Postdoctoral Fellows
Eric A. Ortlund, Ph.D. (2002-2007) Laura M. Guogas, Ph.D. (2005-2007) Kimberly T. Lane, Ph.D. (2006-2008)
Brian Hogan, Ph.D. (2005-2006) Michael J. Miley, Ph.D. (2004-2008) Krystle McLaughlin, Ph.D. (2011-2014)
Aadra Bhatt, Ph.D. (2015-2018) Yamuna Ariyarathna, Ph.D. (2016) Naimee Mehta, Ph.D. (2017-2018)
Graduate Students
Diem-Thu Thieu Lesher, Ph.D. (2000-2004) Jill E. Chrencik, Ph.D. (2000-2004) Sompop Bencharit, D.D.S., Ph.D. (2000-2004) Ryan E. Watkins, Ph.D. (2000-2004)
Schroeder M. Noble, Ph.D. (2001-2005) Virginia Carnahan, M.S. (2002-2007) Christopher Fleming, Ph.D. (2003-2007) Denise Teotico, Ph.D. (2003-2007
Jillian Orans, Ph.D. (2002-2007) Scott Lujan, Ph.D. (2003-2007) Yu Xue, Ph.D. (2000-2008) Sarah Kennedy, Ph.D. (2004-2008)
Andrew Hemmert, Ph.D. (2005-2010) Yuan Cheng, Ph.D. (2005-2011) Joseph Lomino, Ph.D. (2005-2011) Daniel Yao, M.S. (2007-2011)
Rebekah Potts, M.D., Ph.D. (2006-2011) Michael Johnson, Ph.D. (2007-2011) Monica Frazier, Ph.D. (2007-2012) Denise Little, M.S. (2010-2012)
Jonathan Edwards, Ph.D. (2007-2012) Bret Wallace, Ph.D. (2007-2012) Adam Roberts, Ph.D. (2010-2014) Coy Eakes, M.S. (2012-2014)
Rebecca M. Pollet, Ph.D. (2012-2016) Julianne Huang, Ph.D. (2012-2016) Michael S. Little, Ph.D. (2013-2018) Kristin Biernat, Ph.D. (2015-2018)
Samuel Pellock, Ph.D. (2015-2019) Samantha M. Ervin, Ph.D. (2017-2020) Parth B. Jariwala, Ph.D. (2017-2021) Joshua B. Simpson, Ph.D. (2018-2022)
Kacey A. Davis, M.S. (2020-2022) Morgan E. Walker, Ph.D. (2018-2023) Amanda L. Graboski, Ph.D. (2019-2023)