News

On October 10, 2026, members of the North Carolina Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (NC ASM) gathered at the Popp-Martin Student Union at UNC Charlotte for our 2026 Annual Meeting. We want to extend our sincere gratitude to all students, researchers, faculty, sponsors, and attendees who contributed to making this year’s gathering such […]

Morgan Carter, assistant professor of biological sciences in the UNC Charlotte Klein College of Science and CIPHER center, has received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award to advance understanding of how bacteria influence and communicate with the fungi they inhabit. Carter’s research examines how bacteria living inside fungi use specialized secretion systems, molecular “syringes” and “harpoons,” […]

This summer, CIPHER hosted the UNC Charlotte Launch Meeting with TriCEM. Based in North Carolina, this research incubator explores the intersection of evolutionary science and human, animal, and plant health. TriCEMis an interdisciplinary incubator in NC that promotes innovative developments in the theory & practice of evolutionary medicine. Learn more at tricem.org/

UNC Charlotte expert shares what you need to know about Candida auris The United States is seeing a rapid increase of cases of Candida auris, a fungus found in health care facilities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morgan Carter, assistant professor in the Klein College of Science, answered questions about the fungus […]

As federal and state health officials continue investigating one of the nation’s largest recorded cyclosporiasis outbreaks, questions remain about how the parasite spreads, why identifying contaminated food sources is so challenging and what advances in genomics and bioinformatics could mean for future outbreak detection. Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Bioinformatics and Genomics and codirector […]

UNC Charlotte research team expands tick surveillance through field work and lab expertise to improve public health in Mecklenburg County It’s 90 degrees in the open fields of Cowan’s Ford Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. All sun, no breeze. The students — on this day it’s one from public health, two from […]

Please Save the Date for the NC ASM Meeting here at UNC Charlotte on October 10th! UNC Charlotte will be hosting the NC ASM meeting that focuses on all things microbes here at UNC Charlotte this fall. Please mark your calendars for October 10th! (Yes, that is over fall break!!)  We are excited to showcase the research […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Global health leaders are warning the number of positive hantavirus cases tied to an outbreak on a cruise ship could rise, but infectious disease experts in North Carolina say residents should not be alarmed. Dr. Dan Janies from the CIPHER Center at UNC Charlotte , weighed in on the conversation with WBTV. View […]

In North Carolina, the AI tech has been used for everything from diagnosing lung disease to drafting messages from your doctor. In a recent edition of Charlotte Talks With Mike Collins | on NPR’s WFAE 90.7, we sit down with two experts about the latest advances in AI and medicine in North Carolina and nationwide. GUESTSDan Janies, […]

The Cardiovascular Sciences Summer Research Program is an opportunity for undergraduate students to gain research experience during the summer months. The program includes research training in the cardiovascular sciences with mentoring by medical school faculty.

Congratulations to Adam Reitzel Ph.D on his new award from NSF/BIO-UKRI/BBSRC “The role of gene copy number variation in host-microbe interactions”. It is a 4-year grant ($1.5M total, $650K to UNC Charlotte) and is a collaborative project with a UK partner. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Reitzel lab will use a coastal sea anemone […]

Biological Sciences Professor and Researcher, Dr. Elaine Luo was awarded $699k from NSF for a project to study the “Viral impacts on microbial carbon cycling at deep-sea hydrothermal vents”. This project aims to identify the diversity, mechanisms, and rates of virus-induced carbon cycling in a deep-sea hydrothermal vent system (Axial Seamount). While chemoautotrophic microbes are […]

UNC Charlotte has received $2 million as part of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to expand a successful regional partnership that strengthens STEM pathways for academically talented, low‑income students. The new award builds on the earlier SPARC 4 initiative and launches SPARC 6, a five‑institution collaboration designed to improve retention, transfer […]

Avian Influenza (H5N1) has recently emerged in North America’s wildlife, chickens, cows, and farmworkers. Much of the existing literature centers around understanding the transmission of this virus by studying a single variable’s effect on transmission.  Ms. Alexander posits that transmission is the result of multiple variables. Her research will integrate three distinct variables into a […]

On any given spring day at UNC Charlotte, one can expect to see around ten to twelve geese on average. In fact, these geese have been so central to the campus landscape that the student body has adopted a goose, known to many as Prospector Goose, as an unofficial mascot. What may be less well-known […]

Join us December 4, 2025 for a One health Seminar with Dr. Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino – Epidemiology of pathogens, ticks and tick-borne diseases, pathogen discovery, One Health, and Amazonian natural products – Federal University of Western Pará – UFOPA, Brazil. Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino is an Associate Professor at the Federal University of Western […]

Through cutting-edge methods and advanced artificial intelligence analysis, UNC Charlotte researchers leading a multidisciplinary team across four universities have successfully resolved the entire genome of “phage G,” the largest bacterial virus (aka bacteriophages or phages) ever cultivated in a physical lab environment. Published Sept. 30 in leading journal Nature’s NPJ Viruses, the study was led by […]

ON YOUR SIDE TONIGHT: Jamie Boll and WBTV recently visited UNC Charlotte’s CIPHER Center to explore how bird flu is evolving. Jamie sat down with Dr. Daniel Janies to discuss his cutting-edge research and the technology advances made since the COVID-19 pandemic. Their conversation highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in current studies and examined […]