By Brennan Doherty, University Communications
At Lineberger, the search for solutions is personal for postdocs Ryan and Brandon Mouery ’24 (PhD).
Ryan and Brandon Mouery are used to the surprised looks. Nearly everyone they meet is shocked to learn these twins aren’t identical.
“No one actually believes us when we say that,” says Ryan. “But according to the doctor, we’re not.”
“One of our genetics professors in grad school still doesn’t believe it,” Brandon adds.
While the Mouerys may not share the exact same DNA, the twins have followed identical paths to Carolina where they have a single purpose in their research: Find solutions to cancer.
This mission is personal for Ryan and Brandon, who earned doctoral degrees in genetics and molecular biology in August and will be recognized at Winter Commencement along with other summer graduates.
Ryan was diagnosed with leukemia as a 3-year-old and underwent treatment before entering remission when he was 8. In 2016, their mother, Sherry, died of cancer during their senior year at Penn State.
Since earning their doctorates, the Mouerys have begun working as postdocs in the lab of Channing Der at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, studying ways to improve pancreatic cancer treatments.
“I think we got so much more of the real-world human element of what people going through cancer look like,” Brandon says. “Once we realized our aptitude and passion for science in high school, it just became a pretty obvious way to merge those two things.”