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.

Jessica Snyder Defends her Thesis

Jessica Snyder Defends her Thesis

On July 31st, Jessica Snyder successfully defended her thesis "Bioengineering the intestinal niche on a chip: investigating signal transmission between the epithelium and enteric neurons". This success has officially earned her the title of doctor. Dr. Snyder has...

Bryan Schellberg Successfully Proposes

Bryan Schellberg Successfully Proposes

Bryan Schellberg, graduate student of both Drs. Abigail and Ryan Koppes, successfully defended his research proposal this past May. This defense earned him the title of "PhD Candidate"! We all look forward to watching Bryan's work unfold as he fulfills his proposed...