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Staff


Anna Krome-Lukens

Director of Research Curricula


CB# 3504
(919) 843-7790
annakl@email.unc.edu

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Anna Krome-Lukens is a Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy in the College of Arts & Sciences, where she joined the faculty in 2014.  Originally from Virginia, Dr. K-L received her BA in History and Anthropology from the University of Virginia and her PhD in History from UNC-Chapel Hill.  Her research focuses on the the intersection of history and public policy.  She is currently writing a book on the history of North Carolina’s eugenics and welfare programs during the early 20th century—a project that grew out of research she began as an undergraduate in a History course at UVA.  As Director of Research Curricula, Dr. K-L is committed to integrating opportunities for research into the undergraduate experience so that all students can participate in the excitement of developing original knowledge.




Bob Pleasants

Director, Office for Undergraduate Research


CB# 3504
(919) 843-7763
bpleas@email.unc.edu

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Dr. Pleasants has been working closely with students at Carolina for more than 15 years through teaching, coaching, and various forms of outreach and engagement. He received his BA in English, Masters in Teaching English, and PhD in Education from UNC-Chapel Hill and counts himself lucky to work at his alma mater. His past work and research has been about men and masculinity, violence prevention, student success, and teaching and learning. He has an adjunct appointment in Health Behavior at the Gillings School for Global Public Health, where he teaches “Critical Approaches to Service Learning” and a clinical appointment in the School of Education. He is always happy to meet with one-on-one with undergraduates to talk about their research interests.




Janay Franklin Hunt 

Assistant Director, Office for Undergraduate Research 


CB# 3504
(919) 843-7761 
jafrank@email.unc.edu 

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Janay Franklin Hunt is a North Carolina native who received her B.S. in Biology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2017. After undergrad, she transitioned into the NIH Post-baccalaureate Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she developed an interest in addiction neuroscience, and then went on to pursue her Ph.D. at UNC Chapel Hill in 2018 and was trained by Dr. Kathryn Reissner. In 2024, she completed her thesis work, which focused on understanding the effects of chronic cocaine exposure and withdrawal on astrocyte structure and function from a transcriptomic perspective. Throughout her academic career, Janay has continuously mentored undergraduate students who were interested in pursuing a career in biological and biomedical sciences. Additionally, she has an immense passion for increasing exposure of research advancement opportunities to underrepresented populations and is involved in several outreach organizations that prioritize science education and outreach. As the Assistant Director of the Office for Undergraduate Research, Janay is devoted to helping aspiring researchers in various disciplines obtain academic and professional development opportunities to enhance their preparedness to pursue higher education and careers in research.   




Aaron Pattillo-Lunt

Graduate Assistant


CB# 3504
Available by email
apattillolunt@unc.edu

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Aaron Pattillo-Lunt (he/him) is a Ph.D. Candidate in History, and he studies the religious and intellectual history of the twentieth century United States. His dissertation project explores the intertwined religious and political histories of fundamentalism, evangelicalism, and liberalism from the 1920s to the 2010s. In addition to working as a Teaching Assistant, Aaron serves as the managing editor for Traces: The UNC-CH Journal of History. Aaron especially likes being in the classroom where he can work with UNC-CH’s excellent undergraduates and engage with their ideas.




Jeremy Purvis

Program Director, Amgen Scholars Program


CB# 7264
(919) 962-4923
jeremy_purvis@med.unc.edu

Jeremy Purvis runs UNC’s Amgen Scholars Program through the Office for Undergraduate Research. Dr. Purvis is a Professor of Genetics and a member of UNC’s Computational Medicine Program. Dr. Purvis earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Florida, and he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. His lab combines computational modeling and single cell experiments to study cellular behavior with a focus on the human cell cycle and cell fate decisions. He enjoys working with students on new and interesting research projects because he loves learning and considers himself a student at heart.