Jill Dowen promoted to Associate Professor with tenure

Congratulations to Jill Dowen, Associate Professor in the Biochemistry & Biophysics Department and the Biology Department, who received tenure as a UNC faculty effective January 1, 2023!

Dr. Dowen received her BS from the University of Iowa, her PhD from the University of California San Diego, and she completed her postdoctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Dowen joined UNC in 2016 as a faculty member in the Biochemistry and Biophysics Department and the Biology Department. Dr. Dowen is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences.

Research in her lab focuses on the link between genome organization and transcriptional control of cellular identity. Her lab is particularly interested in the proteins, DNA sequences, and molecular processes that link three-dimensional organization of the genome and spatiotemporal gene expression. The Dowen lab applies cutting-edge technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and high throughput sequencing-based chromosome conformation capture assays to interrogate the function of long-range DNA interactions on chromosomes during health and disease.

Since coming to UNC, Dr. Dowen has assembled and trained a very active lab of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers. She’s received funding from the NIH and a Sidney Kimmel Scholar Award. She is a Reviewing Editor for Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences Genome Organization and Dynamics and is the Well-being Liaison for Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

(This news blurb is cross-posted with the UNC BCBP Department News.)