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Amy Susanne Gladfelter

Professor of Cell Biology
Cell Biology

Overview


Amy Gladfelter is a quantitative cell biologist interested in fundamental mechanisms of cell organization. In her research program, she uses microscopy, biophysical and genetic approaches along with mathematical modeling to study syncytial cells.  Syncytia are cells with many nuclei sharing a common cytoplasm and are found in fungi, throughout the human body such as in muscles and in the placenta as well as in many plants. In her work, she examines how these large cells spatially organize the cytoplasm via biomolecular condensates and sense their shape.  One current focus is in understanding the form and function of the giant syncytium formed in the human placenta that is essential for pregnancy.  A second focus is understanding how syncytial fungi adapt to environmental fluctuations with a goal of predicting mechanisms of adaptation to extreme conditions.

She has been honored with the 2014 Graduate Mentoring Award from Dartmouth, the 2015 Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Research from the American Society of Cell Biology, the 2020 Graduate School Mentoring Award from UNC, and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar.  She is an elected fellow of AAAS, the America Academy of Microbiology and the American Academy for Arts and Sciences.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Cell Biology · 2024 - Present Cell Biology, Basic Science Departments
Professor of Biomedical Engineering · 2024 - Present Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute · 2023 - Present Duke Cancer Institute, Institutes and Centers

In the News


Published March 25, 2025
Duke Honors 31 New Distinguished Professors
Published February 3, 2025
Celebrating Duke’s New Full Professors
Published December 3, 2024
Research & Innovation Seed Grants Total Nearly $2 Million

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Recent Publications


Charge distribution and helicity tune the binding of septin's amphipathic helix domain to membranes.

Journal Article Biophys J · April 15, 2025 Amphipathic helices (AHs) are secondary structures that can facilitate binding of proteins to the membrane by folding into a helix with hydrophobic and hydrophilic faces that interact with the same surfaces in the lipid membrane. Septins are cytoskeletal p ... Full text Link to item Cite

Biomolecular condensates: It was RNA all along!

Journal Article Mol Cell · February 6, 2025 In this issue of Molecular Cell, Trussina et al. and Parker et al. present complementary lines of evidence that suggest that stress granules regulate trans RNA-RNA interactions through the action of helicase proteins, which destabilize persistent RNA-RNA i ... Full text Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


Organization of Syncytial Cells

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2025 - 2029

Tri-Institutional Molecular Mycology and Pathogenesis Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

A genetic toolkit to probe the physical properties of fungal cells in extreme environments

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by US Army Medical Research and Development Command · 2024 - 2027

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Education, Training & Certifications


Duke University · 2001 Ph.D.