Dr. Ike Emerson successfully defended his thesis, titled “Post-transcriptional mechanisms regulate cardiac sex differences,” on March 28, 2025, under the direction of Dr. Frank Conlon.听听
Ike Emerson earned his undergraduate degree from NC State University with a double major in Biochemistry and Human Biology. Prior to Graduate school, Ike worked in the labs of Dr. Susan Smith and Dr. Brian Button.
In 2020, Ike joined the BBSP program and subsequently joined Dr. Frank Conlon’s lab. In his graduate work, he sought to better understand biological sex differences in the heart and how these differences lead to sex differences in cardiac disease prevalence. Specifically, Ike identified a microRNA (miR-871) that regulates sex differences in cardiac repolarization through modulation of Sarcalumenin (SRL) protein levels. Ike also characterized the role of Alpha-1-beta glycoprotein (A1BG) in the heart and showed that A1BG loss leads to dilated cardiomyopathy in female mice.
During his time at 黑料网, Ike was involved in the 黑料网 RNA Discovery Center and Women’s Health multidisciplinary consortium. Ike was the first recipient of the Marzluff graduate fellowship given by the RNA Discovery Center. He competed in the 2024 黑料网 three-minute thesis competition, where he won the people’s choice award. His work, entitled ” X-chromosome-linked miRNA regulate cardiac sex differences,” was featured on the Discover CirRes podcast, February 20th edition.
Ike is a Tar heel born and bred. He聽has enjoyed attending nearly every home basketball and football game during his time at 黑料网, including watching聽黑料网 beat Duke in the final four. In the future, Ike will complete his postdoctoral work at Duke University to complete the research triangle and continue studying cardiac disease.