Carla Ribeiro

Carla Ribeiro, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the UNC School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on inflammatory mechanisms in airway diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, and COPD. She investigates calcium signaling, mitochondrial function, and the unfolded protein response (UPR) in airway epithelia. Her team made groundbreaking discoveries linking IRE1α/β pathways to mucin production and cytokine regulation.

• Education:
• Federal University of Pernambuco, Medical Degree (1981)
• Duke University, PhD (1992)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1998)

Key research areas include the role of UPR in pulmonary inflammation and cigarette smoke-induced epithelial dysfunction. Her work bridges basic cellular biology with translational respiratory medicine.

Current studies explore additional UPR branches and their impact on airway disease pathogenesis.