University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Wanda O'Neal received her Ph.D. in Human and Molecular Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, in 1993, where her research included the study of human mutations in the newly discovered CFTR gene and the development of mouse models deficient in CFTR function. She continued at Baylor for postdoctoral work involving the use of adenoviral vectors as potential gene therapy agents. In 1998, she became Assistant Professor and Director of the Molecular Biology Core in the Cystic Fibrosis/Pulmonary Research and Treatment Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She continues to direct this Core, which now includes animal models for pulmonary disease, and was promoted to Research Associate Professor of Medicine in 2001. Dr. O'Neal's current research interests include the use of the Scnn1b-Tg mouse model to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis during obstructive lung disease development. Additionally, she has been extensively involved in the CF Gene Modifier Study, which seeks to identify the genetic modifiers of pulmonary disease in CF. The current focus is to understand the biology behind the significant genetic associations in a region on chromosome 11 that was found to be highly significantly associated with the severity of lung disease in CF patients. These studies utilize a variety of molecular techniques, including next-generation RNA and DNA sequencing, identification of functional elements in regulator regions, and studies of gene function in both mouse and human models.
PPC-- PTAC/CFTR (Not a Session)
Sunday, October 26, 2025
5:00 AM - 6:00 AM PDT