Angel Kaur

Angel is originally from New Delhi, India, where she lived until she was 18. She came to the US to attend Bryn Mawr College, just outside of Philadelphia, PA. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree, majoring in Biology at Haverford College, and minoring in Film Studies at Bryn Mawr. This first experience in a liberal arts environment shaped her worldview, and continues to influence how she conducts her teaching, scholarship, and advising.

After completing her bachelors, she reluctantly left the Hogwartsian Bryn Mawr campus to arrive in sunny San Diego. There, she completed her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA under the mentorship of Dr. Lisa Stowers. During her graduate work, she investigated the role of major urinary proteins in pheromone based signaling between male mice. She found evidence that mice are able to recognize each other and undertake complex territory marking behavior based on these proteins. Analysis of their reception pattern revealed that, unlike most pheromones, these proteins activated sensory neurons in a combinatorial pattern, a mechanism typically employed by odor molecules. This finding changed the way we understand pheromone based signaling and what role experience can play in instinctual behaviors, and led to a Cell publication.

She began her tenure track position as the first official Neuroscience professor at UNC Asheville in the fall of 2016, and held the position of Program Director for the Neuroscience minor between 2016-2019. Through the years, she has developed special topics courses in neurobiology and neuropharmacology, taught core classes in the Neuroscience program, and has been working to support and expand the Neuroscience minor. In addition, she has been able to return to her love of film studies through STEAM course offerings that explore formal, social, historical, and scientific analyses of Neuroscience themed films.