PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cancer Cell Biology
Area of Interest
The overarching goal of my research program is to understand the system of inter- and intra-molecular interactions that dynamically regulate the catalytic mechanisms of enzymes to precisely time the events of the cell cycle. We employ a hybrid technological approach, including enzyme kinetics, mutagenesis, X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and cryo-EM, to characterize these molecular machines. Our results provide mechanistic insight into the cell cycle that will influence the drug design of cancer therapeutics.
Awards and Honors
- Jefferson-Pilot Fellowship in Academic Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2023-2024
- American Heart Association Innovative Project Award, 2023
- UNC Creativity Hub Award, 2023
- UNC Boost Award, 2023
- IBM Junior Faculty Development Award, 2020
- University of North Carolina Lineberger Development Award, 2019
- NIGMS Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for Early Stage Investigators, 2018-2023
- NCI K22 Career Transition Award, 2017-2018
- Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Special Fellowship, 2015-2017
- Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Fellowship, 2012-2015
- Gulf Coast Consortia/Keck Center Biomedical Discovery from Large Scale Data Sets Training Program Fellowship, 2010-2011
- Gulf Coast Consortia/Keck Center Pharmacoinformatics Training Program Fellowship, 2008-2010
- Baylor College of Medicine Verna and Marrs McLean Award, 2006
News and Stories

UNC researchers discover an enzyme that protects DNA during rapid cell divisions
Michael Emanuele, PhD, and colleagues have discovered that an enzyme called USP37 plays a crucial role in ensuring our cells copy their DNA correctly.

UNC Lineberger awards $1.35M for cancer research
UNC Lineberger awarded grants to 14 scientists and research teams in the fall grant awards cycle. Applications for the next round of funding will be due March 15.