Dr. Chrystal Starbird
Welcome to the Starbird Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Our lab is broadly focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of disease.
Building a scientific environment where everyone is supported fully in the development and pursuit of their ideas so that they can bring their creativity and curiosity to research.
Nov 06, 2025 - She’s crushing it!
This fall semester the Starbird Lab had the pleasure of hosting Maria Celeste Lopez Vasquez as a rotation student. She worked with Dr. Starbird on the isolation and expression of a new protein of interest called Feimin, with specificity for the receptor Mer (part of the subfamily of RTKs called TAM receptors), that has been linked to processes like cell survival, migration, differentiation, and the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. The identification of this new ligand brings up questions like: (1) does Feimin, being a highly disordered protein, bind to Mer in the absence of PtdSer (a phospholipid both Gas6 and Protein S must recognize and bind to for activation of the TAMs); (2) what is the conformational state that allows Feimin to bind to Mer; and (3) what specific role(s) does Feimin play when binding and activating Mer?
Maria was a superstar this rotation and took on a project with a lot of risks. We are super proud of the work she did and can't wait to see what other cool things she gets up to!
Nov 06, 2025 - Undergrad appreciation post
Just wanted to shout out our new undergrads, Amere Tucker and Mo'asia Bagley, and say how much we appreciate the work you guys do. These lovely ladies joined our lab at the the beginning of the semester 2025 and they have been a huge help around the lab. The girls have been mostly doing maintenance work at the moment to get them familiar with the lab items, equipment and layout. Super proud of how quickly they've picked up on lab techniques. We'll be transition to more wet work at the bench soon! Stay tuned to hear about their progress.
#LoveourUndergrads
Structural insights into the role and targeting of EGFRvIII
Atrish Bagchi, Steven E. Stayrook, Katerina T. Xenaki, Chrystal A. Starbird, Sofia Doulkeridou, Rachid el Khoulati, Rob C. Roovers, Karl R. Schmitz, Paul M.P. van Bergen en Henegouwen, Kathryn M. Ferguson, Structural insights into the role and targeting of EGFRvIII, Structure, 2024, , ISSN 0969-2126 [DOI]
Transforming myself and academia for good
Chrystal Starbird, Transforming myself and academia for good, Cell, Volume 184, Issue 4, 2021, Pages 851-853, ISSN 0092-8674 [DOI]