Kristen Funk, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Kristen grew up in Marietta, Ohio and majored in Zoology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She earned her PhD at Ohio State University, where she studied Tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease under the guidance of Dr. Jeff Kuret. Her first postdoctoral position with Dr. Marc Diamond at Washington University in St Louis focused on the role of microglia in immunotherapies targeting Tau pathology. Her second postdoctoral position with Dr. Robyn Klein focused on the importance of microglia and their interactions with other immune cells during West Nile virus encephalitis. She joined the Department of Biological Sciences at UNCC in 2019. Work in the Funk lab focuses on the impact of acute neuroinflammation caused by viral encephalitis on long-term cognitive sequelae and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Postdocs
Niklas Philipp Reich, PhD
Niklas received his B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from University of Applied Sciences Biberach (Germany) and earned a M.Sc. in Biomedicine, testing gene homologues of the innate immune modulator and dsDNA sensor cGAS, from Lancaster University (UK). Also in Lancaster, he worked as Visiting Researcher, investigating the therapeutic potential of the peptide hormones acylated ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide 1 in cellular models of Parkinson’s disease. Niklas soon transitioned to a Ph.D. in Biomedical & Life Sciences at Lancaster University, working in the group of Prof David Allsop. His Ph.D. research included testing of a Tau aggregation inhibitor peptide in self-generated Tauopathy cell models and in vivo. He then joined the ALBORADA Drug Discovery Institute at University of Cambridge (UK) as a postdoc, generating a neuronal Tau assay for drug screening. In October 2024, Niklas joined the Funk lab, investigating the interaction between cerebral virus infections (Kunjin / West Nile) and Tau pathology. Besides research, he worked as project manager in two pharma companies, including GSK Vaccines and Boehringer Ingelheim, and collaborates with the Flow Research Collective, a high performance institution.
Technicians
Autumn Tucker
Autumn Tucker graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2022 where she earned a Neuroscience B.S. with honors and minors in French and Computer Science. During her time in Chapel Hill, she studied neuropharmacology and the persistent effects of alcohol on Alzheimer’s disease pathology under Leon Coleman, MD, PhD. Following a period of clinical work with Northwestern Medicine, she is returning to the UNC system as the Funk lab’s research technician and a prospective MD-PhD applicant.
Graduate Students
Britanie Blackhurst
Britanie Blackhurst (Ph.D. Student) is originally from Portland, Oregon, but has lived in Charlotte, North Carolina for more than ten years. She obtained her B.A in Biology from UNC Charlotte in 2020 where she worked in a Virology lab studying the oncolytic effects of Vesicular stomatitis virus against cancer cells. Currently, her goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in the Funk lab studying effects of West Nile virus on neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and development of neurological disease such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
Trevor Price
Trevor Price (Ph.D. Student) graduated from UNC Wilmington in 2020 where he earned his B.S. in Exercise Science with honors. During his time at UNC Wilmington, he developed an interest in neuroscience and infectious disease which led him to join the Funk lab in 2022. His current project studies the relationship between the intracellular protein tau, Kunjin virus, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Undergraduate Students
Luke Williams
Luke is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Biology. He is a member of the University Honors Program and the Biology Honors Program as well. He plans to apply to medical school after graduation.
Erik Sopiqoti
Erik is a fourth-year undergraduate in the UNC Charlotte University Honors Program and the Biology Honors Program. Erik plans to apply to medical school following graduation.
Aayush Bhatt
Aayush is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in business administration. He plans on applying to medical school after graduation.
Lab Alumni
Katie Reagin (Postdoc, 2024) – Adjunct Professor at Valencia College
Sarah Lotz (M.S. 2022) – Project Manager in Medical Imaging
Rae Lee (M.S. 2023) – Lab Technician at Duke University
Olivia Pike (B.S. with Honors, 2021) – Patent Attorney
Morgan Russ (B.S. with Honors, 2022) – Clinical Research Coordinator
Kristen Minehart (B.S. with Honors, 2023) – Research Associate at Atrium Health
Anna D’Amour (B.S. 2021) – Research Associate at OmniAb, Inc
Ashton McKane (B.S. 2022) – Sales Representative at RepeatMD
Loren Cocciolone (B.S. 2023) – Ph.D. student at UNC Charlotte
Tonson Pham (B.S. 2023) – Medical Student at University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
Michael Gonzalez (B.S. 2024)- Medical Student at Wake Forest University
Katie Hale (B.S. 2024) – Research Technician at RTI International
Priyanka Amalean – Undergraduate student at NC State University