Dr. Abigail Koppes-
Principal Investigator

Erika Wheeler

Investigation and Characterization of Sex-Based differences in Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Irritable Bowel Disease are both medical conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. IBS alone affects 60 to 70 million people in the United States and women are twice as likely to be diagnosed than men. Erika’s work focuses on investigating and characterizing sex-based differences in IBS and IBD patients.

Erika joined ABNEL as a bioengineering BS/MS student in January 2021. She began her master thesis in ABNEL in Fall 2021. Prior to this, she co-oped at Sanofi and Cygnal Therapeutics in their oncology department investigating and validating novel oncology targets.

Dan Ventre Begins Start-Up

Dan Ventre has started his own company, Therapeutic Innovations , where he serves as the Chief Operating Officer. Therapeutic Innovations focuses on developing affordable neonatal respiratory assist systems for use in developing countries.

Marissa to Attend AIChE

Marissa Puzan will be presenting her work, “Investigating Neural Control of Epithelial Barrier Function of the Small Intestine with an in Vitro Engineered Model System,” at the AIChE Annual Meeting this November.