Mark Peifer is the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Biology at UNC, where he and his lab study how the animal body is assembled during embryonic development, using genetic and cell biological tools. He was raised in Minnesota and is a first generation college student. His interest in global public health was stimulated by a desire to help students take a closer look at the world around them, and by the experiences he has had with the people of Haiti. He and his spouse live in the woods west of town, and his two daughters are both UNC grads, one a social worker and one a student teacher in second grade.