He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina in 2000. He then served as a post-doctoral fellow/ trainee in the Curriculum of Toxicology at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Wheeler was then appointed to the faculty at the University of North Carolina in 2002. He is now active member of the Center for Alcohol Studies and Center and the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease at UNC. Dr. Wheeler's research program is funded by NIH to develop and characterize recombinant viral vectors for hepatic gene delivery and to address the mechansisms of innate immunity in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease. Local Navigation