Our Team
Rae Cho (CV) – Principal Investigator / ucho@email.unc.edu
Postdoctoral training in Molecular and Cell Biology at the Salk Institute
PhD in Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University
Rae was born and mostly raised in Seoul, Korea. During elementary school years, he lived in Tokyo, Japan. In college and graduate school, he was trained as a chemical biologist. He developed multiple technologies including lanthanide-based time-resolved imaging, protein degrons for worms and flies, and Seoul-fluor-based pH sensors. He worked with Profs. James Chen, Pehr Harbury, and Thomas Wandless at Stanford. He also studied advanced microscopy at the Marine Biological Laboratory during his PhD. He then wanted to pursue question-driven research in the field of cell biology, and joined the laboratory of Prof. Martin Hetzer at the Salk Institute for his postdoctoral training. There, he investigated how caspases proteolytically modulate the nuclear pore complex during myoblast-to-myotube transition. Rae's training was supported by Samsung, Glenn Foundation, and NIH/NIAMS (K01; co-mentored by Prof. Lorenzo Puri). In Jan 2024, he moved to UNC Chapel Hill to start his lab. When not in the lab, he spends time perfecting his salmon poke, kalua pork, and french press recipes.
Sumaya Addish – BBSP rotation student / saddish@email.unc.edu
Sumaya is a first-year PhD student in UNC's Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program rotating in the Cho lab. She grew up in Washington state and received her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington, Seattle. At UW, Sumaya studied the role of wnt16 in zebrafish skeletal muscle regeneration and notochord development under the mentorship of Dr. Ronald Kwon. She enjoys reading, drawing, and going on long walks in her free time.
Clay Becker – Postdoctoral Researcher / clayton_becker@med.unc.edu
Clay grew up in southern Indiana and earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, he studied the role of ADAM10 in retinal regeneration in zebrafish under the mentorship of Dr. David Hyde, sparking a sustained interest in developmental and stem cell biology. After graduating, he joined Dr. Ken Poss's lab at Duke University. In the Poss lab, he developed tools to visualize JNK signaling in vivo in the zebrafish spinal cord during development and regeneration, earning his Ph.D in Cell Biology. Scientifically, he has a keen interest in the creation of molecular and genetic tools to uncover fundamental truths about cell biology. Outside of lab, he has an equally keen interest in his two cats, performing in community bands, and native plant gardening.
Brady Cline – Research Technician / btcline@email.unc.edu
Brady was born in Connecticut and grew up in Georgia. He attended the University of North Georgia where he earned a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. While at UNG, he studied sea urchin skeletal development with Dr. Meg Smith and Dr. Shane Webb. Continuing with the developmental biology theme, Brady moved to Cincinnati, Ohio after graduating to study vertebrate segmentation and somitogenesis in Zebrafish models with Dr. Ertugrul Ozbudak at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. There, he participated in projects studying protein-protein interactions in vivo. Outside of lab, he enjoys reading, watching movies, and cooking.
Betty Fan – Undergraduate Researcher / wfan9@unc.edu
Betty is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill studying biology with a minor in chemistry. She plans on applying to medical school and hopes to become a physician in the future. In her free time, she enjoys reading, eating, and playing board games with friends.
Chad Torrice – Lab Manager / chad_torrice@med.unc.edu
Chad was born in Massachusetts and later moved to an apple orchard in upstate New York. He earned his bachelor's in Biology and Kinesiology at SUNY Plattsburgh. After a stint as an athletic trainer, he moved to Chapel Hill and studied cell cycle regulation in cancer under Dr. Norman Sharpless. He then worked on pharmacogenetics of Tacrolimus in bone marrow transplant patients. He then moved to Duke University and worked on androgen receptor signaling in prostate cancer before returning to UNC and Dr. Cho's Lab. Outside of the lab you can find him building something out of wood and pulling weeds in the garden.
Oli – Visiting Scientist / digital detoxing
Oli (born May 17th, 2021) is a furry biochemist who grew up in San Diego. He is our one-and-oli canine lab member. He mostly works from home. He studies (1) proteins in egg white, chicken breast, and greek yogurt and (2) carbohydrates in steamed sweet potato. He secretly likes his dad more than his mom. His long-term career goal is to become a jedi.