Dr. Abigail Koppes-
Principal Investigator

Dr. Jessica Snyder

While we are well aware that the brain communicates to the gut to regulate digestion and homeostasis, the enteric nervous system (ENS) also sends signals back to the central nervous system (CNS), which impacts the brain. Jessica’s work focuses on designing biomaterials to support the gut-ENS niche and studying serotonin signaling from the epithelium to the ENS and CNS. Application of this work will aid in understanding the influence of gut serotonin production on motility and on mental health, including anxiety and depression.

Jessica began her PhD in bioengineering in ABNEL at Northeastern Fall of 2018. Prior to her time at Northeastern, she completed her bachelors and accelerated masters degrees in biomedical engineering at the University of Iowa in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Her master’s research was done in the Institute for Vision Research under the direction of Dr. Budd Tucker and Dr. Kristan Worthington, titled,“2D and 3D Control of Photopolymerized Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Cell Replacement Therapy in Retinal Disease.”

Ph.D. Bioengineering
Northeastern University ’23
Boston, MA

M.S. Biomedical/Medical Engineering
University of Iowa ’18
Iowa City, IA

B.S. Biomedical/Medical Engineering
University of Iowa ’17
Iowa City, IA

Tori Duback Becomes a PhD Candidate

Congratulations to Tori Duback, ABNEL's industry graduate student from Sana Biotechnology, on passing her thesis proposal! Tori joined ABNEL back in the fall of 2022, and despite having her thesis topic changed part way into the program, she's still managed to stay on...

Dr. Ryan Koppes Presents at FluidicMEMS Meetup

Dr. Ryan Allen Koppes presented his lab's work at the FluidicMEMS Meetup this past Thursday. This event (held in the Samberg Center at MIT) was organized by FluidicMEMS, a dynamic community focused on bringing together individuals with a passion for microfluidics and...