Onyinye I. Iweala

Onyinye I. Iweala serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of the Allergy Mast Cell Disorders Program within the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She provides clinical care at the UNC Allergy Clinic while leading translational research through the Iweala Lab.

Education:

• Undergraduate: Harvard University
• Medical School: Harvard Medical School
• Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital
• Fellowship: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• PhD: Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Iweala's research centers on alpha-gal mammalian meat allergy pathogenesis and IgE antibody regulation mechanisms. Her work bridges clinical allergy practice with laboratory investigation of mast cell disorders, chronic urticaria, and tick-induced food allergies. The Iweala Lab focuses on understanding immune dysregulation in alpha-gal syndrome through both patient care and mechanistic studies.

She has mentored doctoral candidate Jada Suber to completion of a PhD in Microbiology at UNC, while her lab actively trains post-baccalaureate researchers and undergraduate students in immunology techniques. Current and recent lab members include research associate Dr. Yugen Zhang (2021-2024), post-bac Christa (Fayetteville State University graduate), and undergraduates Soorya Vasan, Onyinyechukwu Mazi, and Katherine Fitzgerald.

The Iweala Lab maintains active clinical-translational pipelines studying mast cell activation pathways, with recent focus on alpha-gal syndrome biomarkers and therapeutic interventions. The team collaborates closely with the UNC Allergy Clinic and maintains longitudinal patient cohorts for mechanistic allergy research.