Dr. Courtney Carroll’s innovative work mentoring undergraduate research is featured in the spring 2020 issue of UNCP Today. 

Dr. Carroll, who earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Cornell University, has focused her research on Alzheimer’s Disease, while using the nematode C. elegans as a model organism.  Shortly after joining the UNCP Biology faculty in 2019, she began collaborating with Dr. Conner Sandefur to test potential health benefits of extracts from the plant Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium (rabbit tobacco), which is used in traditional Lumbee medicine.  Early results are promising, indicating that when C. elegans worms are exposed to heat stress. they have greater survival and longevity if, immediately afterwards, they consume tea made from these extracts.  Dr. Carroll teaches her students that research is not straightforward, leading to surprises and failures, each informative in their own way.

Also mentioned in the article are Biology professors Drs. Ben Bahr and Crystal Walline.  Click here to read the full story, on page 12 of UNCP Today.