CBA News
Cellular Biology & Anatomy's recent news about our department member's awards, funding & other recognition
2026
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Dr. Zheng Dong has been selected to receive the Augusta University Research Institute (AURI) Distinguished Researcher award this year. The AURI Award Ceremony Ceremony is at Enterprise Mill on March 11, 2026. |
2025
Several CBA faculty members have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate medical education. Individuals that have been selected to receive the MCG AY2024-2025 Exemplary Teaching Awards include Dr. Shannon Barwick, Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez, Dr. Mindy Johnson, Dr. Morganne Manuel, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence, and Dr. Oliva Wireman.
Our CBA colleague at the Southeast campus, Dr. Rachel Koshi was also recognized.
Congratulations to all our outstanding faculty!
Shannon Barwick, PhD
Graydon Gonsalvez, PhD
Mindy Johnson, PhD
Morganne Manuel, PhD
Meghan McGee-Lawrence, PhD
Olivia Wireman, PhD
Great CBA News!
MCG scientists publish new research on improving muscle, bone health in aging
A new study published in JCI Insight offers a promising strategy to combat age-related bone and muscle decline. Supported by a long-standing Program Project Grant now in its third cycle, MCG researchers have shown that blocking the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) – a protein activated by environmental toxins and metabolic byproducts – can significantly improve bone mass and preserve muscle function in aging mice. The team also identified kynurenine, a byproduct of tryptophan metabolism that increases with age, as a key driver of AhR activation and musculoskeletal deterioration.
This work is a true example of the type of team science this medical school is known for. These new findings are the result of nearly 15 years of collaboration among labs led by Drs. Meghan McGee-Lawrence, Sadanand Fulzele, Mark Hamrick, and Carlos Isales, and reveal a novel biological pathway linking metabolic changes to physical decline. By targeting AhR in a mouse model, they were able to reverse frailty indicators and enhance neuromuscular junctions, which are critical for movement and strength, especially in female mice. Given that bone fractures and muscle loss are among the leading causes of disability in older adults, this discovery opens the door to therapies that could help people remain mobile, independent, and healthier as they age. The timing of findings like these could not be better – the population aged 65 and older is projected to grow by 47% between 2022 and 2050. This is not only about improving the lives of people as they age, but also about decreasing the stress on our health care systems.
Dr. Jian-Kang Chen Notice of Grant Award
Dr. Jian-Kang Chen (Co-PI, Zheng Dong) has received the notice of grant award for his NIH NIDDK grant entitled “Tubular Hypertrophy and AKI Susceptibility in Diabetes.”
The innovation of this project is focused on understanding the relationship between tubular changes in the kidney and the development of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in individuals with diabetes.
Congratulations Dr. Chen!
Dr. Ellen LeMosy Awarded at TGS Ceremony
At the TGS Scientific Integrity Ceremony on June 6, Associate Professor, Dr. Ellen LeMosy, was honored with a TGS Outstanding Faculty Award.
Congratulations!!
Dr. Patricia Schoenlein Awarded a Paceline Grant
Professor, Dr. Patricia Schoenlein, was awarded a Paceline grant titled:
"JNK1/2 / cJUN signaling, pyroptosis, and anti-tumor immunity to eradicate breast cancer"
at the Paceline awards ceremony on June 6.
Congratulations on this wonderful news!
MCG 2025 Faculty Awards Ceremony
The Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy was awarded The Outstanding Basic Science Teaching award at the Medical College of Georgia Faculty Senate Awards Ceremony, by the Class of 2027 on May 22, 2025, in the Natalie and Lansing B. Lee, Jr. Auditorium.
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence has been named Regents’ Professor
The Regents’ Professorship at Augusta University is a prestigious award bestowed on outstanding faculty members who have achieved national and international recognition for their innovative scholarship or creative activities. It is a title signifying the highest academic merit within the University System of Georgia.
Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez awarded in the Intramural Grants Program
Please join us in congratulating the awardee of the Intramural Grants Program. The Program assists and encourages faculty to develop research programs that can successfully compete for extramural funding, encourage clinical and translational research between colleagues, and to provide bridge funds when applicable.
"The Dynein motor and its adaptors are requiredfor formation of primary cilia"
CBA Places 2nd in BMS Food Drive
CBA placed 2nd in the "Win the Feud, Give Some Food" challenge. Contributions to the Open Paws Pantry beat the best ever record of 1,130 lbs. Thank you again to everyone who gave, your kindness and generosity are greatly appreciated.
Jaeshia Lindsay TGS AU Values Award Meghan McGee-Lawrence lab
At the TGS Scientific Integrity Ceremony on June 6, 1st year CBA PhD student Jaeshia Lindsay was recognized with the TGS AU Values for Compassion Award.
Dariana N. Rodríguez TGS AU Values Award Paul Langridge lab
At the TGS Scientific Integrity Ceremony on June 6, 1st year CBA PhD student Dariana Rodriguez was recognized with the TGS AU Values for Leadership Award.
Jennifer Dorn Meghan McGee-Lawrence Lab
Jennifer Dorn successfully defended her thesis entitled “Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (Ahr) As A Mediator Of Skeletal Health And Homeostasis” on April 15, 2025. The considerable efforts of her mentor, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence are gratefully acknowledged along with the contributions of her committee members (Drs. Graydon Gonsalvez, Jennifer Sullivan, Wendy Bollag, Jessica Hoffman, previously Mark Hamrick) and her reader Ellen LeMosy.
This is a wonderful accomplishment!
Congratulations Dr. Dorn!
Pierce Bagby
Anatomy student wins award for Best Clinical Poster at the MCG Research Day
Adrian Bozocea and Amogh Gadekar
Anatomy students presenting their poster at the MCG Research Day.
Jenna Harrington
MCG anatomy student presenting at the MCG Research Day, April 18, 2025.
Phylicia Allen Graydon Gonsalvez Lab
2025 TGS Graduate Research Day awards ceremony
Excellence in Research Award in Cellular Biology and Anatomy
Ola Elsayed Yutao Liu Lab
2025 TGS Graduate Research Day awards ceremony
Virendra B. Mahesh Award for Research Excellence in Endocrinology
2025 TGS Graduate Research Day awards ceremony
Virendra B. Mahesh Award for Research Excellence in Endocrinology
Husam Bensreti Meghan McGee-Lawrence Lab
2025 TGS Graduate Research Day awards ceremony
MCG Dean's Travel Award for Outstanding Postdoctoral Research
1st place in postdoctoral poster competition
The following CBA faculty were recognized for their excellence in teaching MCG medical students and residents and received MCG’s Exemplary Teaching Awards: Drs. Shannon Barwick, Graydon Gonsalvez, Meghan McGee-Lawrence, Morganne Manuel, Patricia Schoenlein, and Ming Zhang.
Dr. Shannon Barwick
Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence
Dr. Morganne Manuel
Dr. Patricia Schoenlein
Dr. Ming Zhang
Congratulations to all for your hard work and dedication to teaching!
2024
Dr. Ming Zhang
The Retina Research Foundation has approved the RRF Pilot Study Grant for Dr. Ming Zhang for his project, “The roles of RIP kinase 3 in the development of AMD-like pathologies during cytomegalovirus ocular latency.”
Congratulations Dr. Zhang on this great accomplishment!
Notice of Grant Award
Phylicia Allen (graduate student in Graydon Gonsalvez’s lab) received a NOGA (Notice of Grant Award) for her NIH F31 pre-doctoral fellowship titled “Investigating the in vivo regulation of Dynein activity.”
Congratulations to Phylicia on a job well done!
Dr. Yutao Liu
The Augusta University Research Institute honored Dr. Yutao Liu with the 2024 AURI Distinguished Researcher Award at the 2024 AURI Research Awards Ceremony at Fat Man's Cafe, Enterprise Mill on Friday, January 24, 2025.
Congratulations, Dr. Yutao Liu, on this well-deserved award!
MCG’s Electron Microscopy & Histology Core lab
The MCG Electron Microscopy and Histology Core lab is featured in the Jagwire for being known nationwide. We are so proud the Core lab staff that is managed by Donna Kumiski and several experts in their field including Brendan Marshall PhD, an expert in electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry; Libby Perry, an expert in electron microscopy; Tania Greene, an expert in electron microscopy and histology; and Jing Zhao, an expert in immunohistochemistry and cryosectioning.
Well-deserved recognition for the Core and the outstanding staff!
Great news
The Office for Faculty Success selected Dr. Patricia Schoenlein as an “AU/MCG Woman Who Inspires" for the 2024 Women in Medicine Month Campaign!
Congratulations Dr. Schoenlein, well deserved!
Happy Women in Medicine Month 2024!
— MCG Office for Faculty Success (@AUG_OFS) September 12, 2024
Celebrate with us by sharing the women at AU/MCG who inspire. Today we honor Dr. Patricia Schoenlein, a prolific cancer researcher and first-rate educator in the Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy. Congratulations!
@AMWADoctors… pic.twitter.com/I8QyP7vkVo
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence
Great news
Susan (Laney) Willis (undergraduate student Dr. McGee-Lawrence lab) was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Muhammad Ebadullah (Ebad) Hasan Memorial Award from the STAR Program. The Muhammad Ebadullah Hasen Memorial Award was established by the Summer 2005 STAR participants in loving memory of their fellow STAR participant Ebad Hasan who lost his life in a tragic accident in July 2005.
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence was honored with the 2024 Outstanding Mentorship Award from the STAR program.
Congratulations on these wonderful honors!
Dr. Zheng Dong
Wonderful news
Dr. Zheng Dong successfully renewed his NIDDK R01 grant titled “Kidney Injury by Cisplatin and Renoprotective Strategies”. This grant will investigate the chronic or long-term effects of cisplatin chemotherapy in kidneys. This grant has been funded for five years.
Congratulations Dr. Dong on this wonderful news!
Funding news!
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence received the Notice of Award for an NIH S10 equipment grant, supporting the purchase of a ~$400K in vivo micro-computed tomography instrument that will be utilized by faculty and staff in CBA, DNRM, VBC, Medicine, and Oral Biology.
Great News!
2024 MCG Faculty Awards Ceremony
The MCG Faculty awards ceremony was held Thursday, May 23, 2024 in the Lee Auditorium. CBA received the Outstanding Basic Science Teaching Award from the class of 2026 (left);
Dr. Brett Szymik, Associate Professor, AU/UGA Medical Partnership, Athens received the Educator of the Year Award from the class of 2027 (top).
From the MCG Dean's Diary June 14, 2024...
Fantastic CBA News Mention
From the MCG Dean's Diary June 14, 2024...
Dr. Meghan McGee Lawrence receives National Institute on Aging grant to study crosstalk between tissues and how that changes with age
Here’s another example of the great teamwork that is an MCG hallmark. Bone biologist and interim chair of our Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy Dr. Meghan McGee Lawrence has received $2.4 million from the National Institute on Aging to study the crosstalk between bone, the adrenal glands, the muscle and fat in our bodies and how that changes as we age. As we all know, tissues don't function in isolation – everything in the body “talks” to everything else to keep people healthy across the lifespan. So, perhaps the best approach to understanding how that talk first happens, and then changes, as we age, would be by assembling a team with a wide variety of expertise? Lucky for us, when the NIA was looking for grant proposals that included such teams, we were at the ready…because of how well we collaborate here at MCG. I am beginning to sense a theme.
Dr. McGee Lawrence has assembled another great group that includes experts from our Adrenal Center, the Center for Healthy Aging and even the AU College of Allied Health Sciences to examine mineralocorticoids receptors, which are best understood as a key regulator of blood pressure, and have been studied extensively here in things like adipose tissue, our kidneys and cardiovascular tissue. Dr. McGee Lawrence and her team believe they are also implicated in the way stress hormones affect our skeleton. Key team members include Dr. Carlos Isales, director of the Center for Healthy Aging; again, Dr. Belin de Chantemele from the VBC; Dr. Wendy Bollag, a cell physiologist who is an expert in the biology of the adrenal gland; and Dr. Kate Kosmac, from the AU Department of Physical Therapy who is an expert in skeletal muscle. To quote Dr. McGee Lawrence here, the science we can all do together is so much better than the science we can do in silos, and that makes us all better. I could not agree more.
David Hess
Drs. Meghan McGee-Lawrence (left), Wendy Bollag (center) & Carlos Isales (right), Kate Kosmic (far right)
Fantastic News!
Dr. Ming Zhang has received his new NEI R01 grant titled “Ocular MCMV Latency and AMD-like Pathology”. The innovative of this project is to determine the contribution of CMV latency to AMD-relevant ocular pathology and to identify potential therapeutic targets to treat age-related macular degeneration and its symptoms and is funded for four years.
Congratulations Dr. Zhang on this wonderful news.
Great News
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence has received a Notice of Grant Award from NIH that her NIA U01 grant ($2.36M) will be funded (award total: $2,365,732).
The title of the grant is “Endogenous steroid hormones as mediators of interorgan communication with the musculoskeletal system.” Co-investigators on this award, brought together by the AU Adrenal Center, include Drs. Wendy Bollag, Carlos Isales, Eric Belin de Chantemele, and Kate Kosmac.
Congratulations on this fantastic news!
Great News
Dr. Menaka Thounaojam has been selected as the recipient of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship’s 2024 Mentor Excellence Award!
As an undergraduate research mentor Dr. Thounaojam has spent many hours advising and guiding students and these students have clearly noticed her efforts and are grateful for her mentorship.
Congratulations Dr. Thounaojam and thank you for all you do for our students!
Fantastic News
We want to congratulate Husam Eldin Bensreti on his successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Endogenous Glucocorticoid Signaling During Skeletal Aging” on April 15, 2024.
A special thanks to Dr. Bensreti’s committee, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence (advisor), Dr. Wendy Bollag, Dr. Mark Hamrick, Dr. Jennifer Sullivan, Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemèle and Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez (reader).
Congratulations on a job well done!
Great News
Mark Hamrick, PhD, senior associate dean for research, received the Distinguished
Leadership and
Outstanding Service Award at the MCG State of the College Address from Dean Hess.
Hamrick, a bone and muscle biologist and an honored educator and scientist, has worked closely with Hess and other MCG research leaders to move the medical school toward the top 60 in National Institutes of Health funding. Among the nation’s medical schools, MCG currently is ranked 68th by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, with nearly $61 million in funding. That represents a 17% increase in funding over last year MCG was ranked 74th.
He also has worked with department chairs, center and institute directors to recruit and retain new federally funded research faculty and identify and develop new research collaborations across MCG departments, other AU colleges and with university and industry partners across Georgia and beyond.
His service has included his role as interim chair of the MCG Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy since last August. “Dr. Hamrick embodies what a leader should be – humble but persistent; someone who puts service about self,” Hess said. “His exceptional understanding of the inner workings and importance of research, paired with his relentless pursuit of broadening this medical school’s impact have been a true asset to MCG.”
Dr. Hamrick will retire at the end of the month.
Wonderful News!
We want to congratulate Anik Tuladhar on his successful defense of his dissertation entitled “PRKD1 (PKC-MU) Regulates the Formation and Repair of Plasma Membrane Disruptions (PMD) in Osteocytes” on January 25, 2024.
A special thanks to Dr. Tuladhar’s committee, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence (advisor), Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez, Dr. Mitchell Watsky, Dr. Mark Hamrick, Dr. Mykola Mamenko and Dr. Yutao Liu (reader).
Dr. Tuladhar will be starting as a postdoctoral fellow at AbbVie Inc. in Chicago, IL starting in March.
Congratulations on a job well done!