Dr. O’Brien obtained her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a
research emphasis on basic mechanisms of cell division. With an evolving interest in developmental
biology, she then began her postdoctoral studies at Harvard and subsequently the University of
Southern California where she investigated several aspects of renal development. This included the
regulation of nephron progenitor cells during fetal development and how they differentiate into cells
of the nephron such as podocytes. Dr. O’Brien’s current lab at UNC-Chapel Hill continues to
interrogate processes of kidney development such as vascularization and innervation of the kidney,
how nephron progenitors transform into Wilms tumor, and the unique cell biology of podocytes.