Kara Headley
Kara Headley, Communications Specialist for the Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology, Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, and Microbiology & Immunology. Kara graduated with her Masters in Strategic Communication from MSU in 2025, and her bachelors in Professional Writing from MSU in 2020.
Department News
How exposure to bacteria may protect us
Sophie Maxfield, a fourth year graduate student in Anukul Shenoy’s lab, has received an F31 fellowship through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the relationship between allergic disorders and bacteria.
Health Lab
Study outlines a new framework for direct cell reprogramming
In a new paper published in the journal iScience, Lindsey Muir, Ph.D. and her lab at Michigan Medicine propose a framework for direct cell reprogramming.
Department News
Mapping prostate cancer
Hanbyul (Hannah) Cho successfully defended her dissertation, "Tissue and Cell Type Specific Transcriptional Module Aberrations in Cancer," this June, marking the end of her PhD journey.
Health Lab
Uncovering cellular stress signal triggered by Salmonella
In a new paper published in Infection and Immunity, researchers from the O’Riordan lab looked for causes of stress for cells infected with Salmonella.
Department News
Understanding human metabolic disease
Alice Wang defended her dissertation, marking a successful end to her PhD journey.
Department News
How context shapes genetic disease risk
Ben Li successfully defended his dissertation in February, marking the successful completion of his PhD in Bioinformatics.
Department News
How lungs recognize and protect against infection: Olivia Harlow receives F31 fellowship
Olivia Harlow, fourth year PhD student in the Shenoy lab, received an F31 fellowship through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to research how lungs recognize and protect against infection.
Department News
Building Better Ontologies
Huffman’s dissertation work is in ontology; in information science, this is how real-world entities and their relationships are represented. Modern bioinformatics is interested in representing this in a way that computers can understand.
Health Lab
The hidden life of parasites like Cyclospora
Michigan Medicine biologists and doctors explain how parasites infect people—and how to respond or reduce your risk
Medical School News
Thanh Hoang named Pew Biomedical Scholar
The Pew Charitable Trusts selected Thanh Hoang, PhD, as a 2026 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. Hoang joined a class of 21 scholars nationwide.
Health Lab
Studying neurons using neurons
Labs at the University of Michigan Medical School are exploring a new technology that leverages the biological capabilities of human neurons for artificial intelligence.
Department News
Improving care for patients with brain injuries
Emily Wittrup defended her dissertation this May, marking a successful end to her PhD journey.
Department News
Jackson Rapala receives fellowship for research on fungal pathogen
Jackson Rapala received a National Institutes of Health F31 fellowship for his outstanding research on Candida auris.
Medical School News
Celebrating outstanding teaching and research at the 2026 Endowment for Basic Sciences Awards
The 2026 Endowment for Basic Sciences Awards recognized nine faculty and nine research staff members for their accomplishments in teaching and research.
Department News
Celebrating Scientific Journeys: Inside CDB’s 2026 Annual Celebration
The Cell & Developmental Biology community gathered for the 2026 Annual Celebration on May 6. This event featured alum career talks, the annual awards ceremony and a reception.
