PDA Leadership Team
The PDA is a social and collaborative space where postdoc volunteers come together to discuss relevant issues and try to find ways to improve the postdoc experience for the 800-1000 postdocs on UNC campus at any given time. Our main goals are to foster a sense of community among postdoctoral scholars, to provide resources for professional development, and to generate awareness about problems common to all postdocs.
PDA is where postdocs interested in representing various aspects of postdoc life – social, outreach, internationals, minorities, transport, healthcare, communications, professional development, and more – all come together to discuss the needs of postdocs and what can be done to address them.
On this page:
Meet The Leadership Team
PDA Co-Chair
Megan joined Dr. Ideraabdullah’s lab in the Department of Genetics in August 2020 after completing her PhD in toxicology at NC State University. As a postdoc, Megan studies the impact of developmental vitamin D deficiency on epigenetic programming of liver function in the mouse model. As part of this research, she is interested in determining whether adverse metabolic programming promotes adult liver disease and even cancer susceptibility in offspring. As PDA Co-Chair, Megan strives to create a strong postdoc community across UNC’s campus and the Triangle. Megan also currently serves as the Trainee Representative for the U.S. DOHaD Society. In her spare time, she can be found traveling or in the kitchen creating exciting new recipes.
PDA Co-Chair
Patrick joined UNC as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Perou Lab at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in August 2021. His research focuses on overcoming treatment resistance and cellular plasticity in triple negative breast cancer. Before moving to North Carolina, Patrick graduated from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where his work was focused on the cellular origin of different breast cancer subtypes. Patrick is passionate about basic and translational research, education of less privileged kids, and track and field. The German native aims to connect UNC’s postdocs to the community with a variety of outreach and educational opportunities. Patrick currently also serves as Community Outreach & Education Chair and is excited about engaging more postdocs with fun and meaningful activities to support our Carolina community.
Social Co-Chair
Margarita received her PhD degree in Michael Kühn’s lab at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany. She joined UNC as a Postdoctoral research associate in December 2021. As a part of her research, she is working on identifying new targets in liver cancer and developing new treatment options for patients with advanced stages of liver cancer as well as figuring out the mechanisms of resistance to FDA-approved therapies and ways how to overcome it. In her spare time, Margarita can be found hiking, dancing ballroom dances, painting, and traveling the world.
Social Co-Chair
Travis received his PhD in Chemistry as part of the lab of Professor Cliff Stains, then at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where his work focused on development of a self-reassembling luciferase assay to quantify solubility of neurodegenerative disease-relevant proteins. He joined UNC as a postdoctoral research associate in the Fall of 2020 as part of the lab of Professor Nate Hathaway where his current work is focused on leveraging a novel combination of catalytically-inactive CRISPR/Cas9 and small molecules to regulate the epigenetics of anti-cancer genes, with the goal developing it into a translational gene therapy. Since 2022, he has been an T32 trainee as part of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Integrated Translational Oncology Program (iTOP). He also volunteers his time as a postdoctoral representative on the Wellbeing Committee within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. An avid sports fan, Travis is a proud co-owner of the Green Bay Packers and can frequently be seen attending Carolina Hurricanes and Durham Bulls games.
TIBBS Representative/Professional Development Chair
Ashlyn joined Dr. Whitmire’s laboratory at UNC in June 2022 after completing her PhD in Immunology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. As a postdoc, Ashlyn studies T cells in the context of viral infection, cancer, and autoimmunity. Along with research, Ashlyn is also interested in teaching and is always looking for fun ways to engage students in the classroom and get them excited about immunology. Ashlyn is currently a member of the Postdoc Association and serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion advisory committee for the UNC Genetics Department.
Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Postdoc Alliance Co-Chair
In the summer of 2022, Jasmine completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology (MIC) at the University of Miami in the laboratory of Emmanuel Thomas where she studied the development of innate immunity utilizing stem-cell derived hepatocytes. As a graduate student, Jasmine participated in programs which focused on the professional development of minority groups in scientific research while serving on the Graduate Student Association as the MIC Senator (student representative). In fall 2022, she joined the laboratory of Kristina De Paris at UNC where she collaborates with a Zambian pregnancy cohort to study adverse birth outcomes in HIV-infected women on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Jasmine has a desire to conduct women’s health research with under-representative ethnic and racial groups as a major focus. Jasmine’s passion for growing and retaining minorities in academia motivates her to create an inclusive multi-disciplinary supportive community through the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Postdoc Alliance.
Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Postdoc Alliance Co-Chair
Born and raised in a small county in South Carolina, Martha went to Jackson State University for both her BS and MS in Chemistry. Social and Active, Martha was graciously involved in many groups and professional organizations that were all for the advancement of underrepresented individuals in STEM. Martha went on to the Hampton Roads area where, in 2019, she received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Old Dominion University studying Bioanalytical Chemistry. She is currently a third-year postdoctoral scholar working under the advancement of Dr. Jean G. Cook in the department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, investigating the roles and mechanisms a cell will take to exit the cell cycle to a quiescent arrested state. She also currently sits on the Executive Board of a non-profit organization created by her friends and herself, PhowarD and Black, helping to bring professional minorities together in the RTP area. Martha is passionate about advancing minorities further in STEM and creating opportunities for others. Martha enjoys social outings with friends and family and hosting the ultimate adult game nights.
Campus Health Representative
Sarah completed her PhD in Public Policy at Duke University in May 2023, where she studied how individuals access public health insurance, and whether having health insurance promoted positive health outcomes. She joined UNC as a T32 Population Science Postdoctoral Trainee in the Carolina Population Center in July 2023. During her postdoc she will work with Professors Carolyn Halpern and Kathie Mullan Harris to examine how young-adult mental health varies based on state-level differences in LGBTQ+ policies, reproductive rights, and public health insurance programs. In her free time, Sarah enjoys rock climbing, swimming, and live music. As Campus Health Representative, Sarah is excited to advocate for excellent health insurance and health care access, affordability, and quality for all postdocs at UNC.
Social Media & Communications Co-Chair
Aya joined UNC as a postdoctoral research associate in July 2023 after getting her PhD in Biomedical Materials Sciences from University of Mississippi Medical Center. At UNC, Aya’s research focuses on studying the role of extracellular proteins and glycosaminoglycans in mineralized tissue maintainace and regeneration as well as their effect in treating oral diseases. At PDA, Aya hopes to help postdoctoral fellows and associates connect and be part of a the postdocs community at UNC Chapel Hill.
Social Media & Communications Co-Chair
Manuel completed his PhD at the Institute of Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC) in Córdoba, Spain where he investigated the plant microbiome. In February 2023 he joined UNC as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Biology. He currently studies the factors governing the commensal-pathogen continuum to enhance our understanding of molecular mechanisms that contribute to virulence emergence from a microbiota population background that is largely commensal. With the experience gained as a representative of the scientific dissemination committee at his former Institution, Manuel hopes to bring new ideas to PDA to create a collaborative environment within the UNC postdoctoral community.
International Postdoc Alliance Co-Chair and Transportation Representative
Laszlo joined the Caron Lab in June 2021 after obtaining his PhD degree from Semmelweis University, Hungary. He studies the structural and functional heterogeneity of the lymphatic vasculature and aims at broadening our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms determining organ-specific lymphatic function. He joined PDA in June 2022 and as a co-chair of the International Postdoc Alliance and represents the postdoctoral community at the meetings of UNC’s Advisory Committee on Transportation and Parking since February 2023. Laszlo is eager to help International postdocs to feel themselves home in Chapel Hill and to advocate for the transportation and parking needs and requests of UNC postdocs on the Transportation Committee meetings.
International Postdoc Alliance Co-Chair
Luigi Angelo Castriotta joined UNC in June 2023 as a visiting scholar. He is the principal investigator of a MSCA global fellowship project, dealing with sun and plastic for energy conversion purposes. He got his Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering in 2021 from the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy), bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the same university, Masters’ in “Nanoscience and Nanotechnology” at UB(Spain) and in “Organic Molecular Electronics” at TUD (Germany). A friend of his defined him as “ammucchione”, which means “a person who piled up”, in the sense that he loves to be surrounded by people from different backgrounds and cultures. Out from the lab, you can find him playing board games, MGT, volleyball, table tennis, hiking, sleeping, and eating proper tasty food (he can tell you where to eat a proper Pizza in the area). His goal here is to guide the international community from the dark to the light, creating a safe environment for internationals to hang out, have fun, and enjoy life in the USA.
Join PDA
The UNC Postdoc Association is always looking to recruit new leadership! See below for more information. If you are interested in a position with PDA, or would like to attend a monthly meeting to learn more, please email raedlerp@ad.unc.edu or mmknuth@ad.unc.edu. If you don’t find a role for yourself below, we are open to creating new positions.
UNC Postdoctoral Association (PDA)
The UNC Postdoctoral Association is a volunteer organization dedicated to addressing the needs and concerns of all UNC postdocs. The PDA’s mission is to foster a sense of community among postdoctoral scholars within the Chapel Hill community and the surrounding area. The PDA works closely with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to assess postdoctoral life and improve the postdoc training experience.
Officers
- Chair – oversees the PDA leadership team and acts as a liaison between the PDA and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. The chair is responsible for leading the PDA group to develop plans and activities for the year. The chair is also responsible for developing and maintaining an online team-based platform to facilitate communication amongst the PDA and archive materials. The chair serves a one-year term.
- Associate Chair – assists the chair as needed and assumes a leadership role in the chair’s absence. The associate chair serves a one-year term and moves into the chair position the following year
- Treasurer and Event Coordinator– treasure role oversees the PDA budget, works closely with OPA to ensure spending complies with UNC’s financial policies, and is responsible for meeting minutes. The event coordinator role organizes professional and networking events. The treasurer/event coordinator serves a two-year term.
- Communications – responsible for communication of PDA activities, social media, and develops postdoctoral communications programs such as postdoc feature stories.
Postdoc Representatives
Postdoc representatives serve on formal University Campus Boards and are appointed by the OPA director. Their mission is to serve as the voice for postdocs in campus-wide decision making. Postdoc representatives serve a minimum of two years.
- Campus Health Advisory Board (CHAB) Representative – attends regular meetings at Campus Health to provide insight from a postdoc perspective on Campus Health services and programs.
- Advisory Committee for Transportation & Parking (ACT) Representative – attends committee meetings and provides insight and feedback associated with the changing transportation and parking access needs of postdocs.
Standing Committees and Interest Groups
The standing committees and interest groups work with the PDA Officers on a specific set of programs and initiatives consistent with the PDA mission. Each Committee has two co-chairs. Committee chairs serve a minimum of one year and up to two year terms.
- Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Postdoc Alliance (BIPOC-PA). The BIPOC-PA brings together underrepresented racial and ethnic postdoctoral scholars across disciplines to build valuable professional networks and promote diversity and inclusiveness. This group is charged with organizing at least one activity per semester. This could include planning a social event, organizing an alumni panel, or bringing in a guest speaker.
- International Postdoc Alliance (IPA). The IPA’s mission is to foster a sense of community and support among International scholars at UNC. It also serves as an informational resource for international postdocs. This group is charged with participating in and promoting the International Coffee Hours (in partnership with ISSS) plus organizing at least one activity per semester. This could include lunch and learn social event or panel discussions.
- Community Outreach & Education (COE). The COE brings postdocs together to participate in community-based projects and local and statewide initiatives. This group is charged with promoting and recruiting for existing outreach projects (e.g., DNA Day, UNC’s Habitat for Humanity) and creating new volunteer opportunities.
- Social Committee. This committee brings together postdocs within the UNC community and the surrounding area. This group is charged with organizing or partnering in at least one activity per semester. This could include organizing holiday events or coordinating outings such as picnics, meet-ups, or happy hours.
- Parenting Group. The mission of the Parenting Group is to create awareness of opportunities and resources available for parents and their children. This group is charged with organizing at least one parent-centered activity each semester. This could include a lunch and learn event, panel discussion, or social event.
