Brian David Strahl

Dr. Brian Strahl, professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, has been a faculty member at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill since 2001. His group has been studying the role of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) in chromatin structure and function. While a vast number of histone PTMs has been discovered (e.g., lysine acetylation and methylation), how they work together to control fundamental aspects of DNA-based functions in chromatin including gene regulation, DNA replication and repair is poorly understood. To address this gap of knowledge, Brian Strahl’s lab has been studying the protein machinery that “writes”, “erases” and “reads” histone PTMs. His group employs multiple model systems including yeast and mammalian cells, and a variety of approaches such as genetics, biochemistry and biophysics. Brian Strahl is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)