Dr. Abigail Koppes,
Principal Investigator

Kyla Nichols

Effects of bacterial metabolite-derived neurotransmitters on visceral pain

Up to 25% of the population experiences visceral pain at any one time, but the underlying mechanisms of this pain remain poorly understood. Kyla’s work aims to investigate the connection of neurotransmitter signaling, specifically gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), to visceral nociception (feeling of pain) within the gut. The project includes developing a neural microphysiological system to model the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Kyla joined ABNEL in the Fall of 2019 as a Chemical Engineering PhD student. Prior to starting graduate school at Northeastern University, Kyla was working at GE Healthcare Life Sciences in the Upstream Product Management and Operations Department. Kyla completed her BS in Biomedical engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) the spring of 2017. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in an NSF funded Research Experience for Undergraduates at Syracuse University’s Biomaterials Institute. Her project studied astrocyte motility on tunable hydrogels which sparked her interest in neuroengineering.

B.S. Biomedical Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute ’17
Worcester, MA

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Dr. Koppes Invited to Give Keynote at 7th TERMIS World Congress

Dr. Koppes Invited to Give Keynote at 7th TERMIS World Congress

The Principal Investigator of ABNEL, Dr. Abigail Koppes, will be presenting a keynote during this year's TERMIS World Congress. TERMIS is the "Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society". As the name suggests, researchers from around the globe...

Undergraduate Researchers Win Big with PEAK Awards

Undergraduate Researchers Win Big with PEAK Awards

The ABNEL lab could not be prouder of our outstanding group of undergraduate researchers! We have three PEAK award winners: Christina Aniolek (top left) won the Base Camp award, Iris Chang (bottom left) won the Ascent award, and Stephen Landry (right) also won the...