Colin K Franz, MD, PhD
Maria Jose Quezada, BS, Graduate Student
Maria Jose (Joe) is a graduate student in the DPT/PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. She is originally from Mexico and moved to the US to get her BSE in Biomedical Engineering at Arizona State University. As an undergraduate, she joined Dr. Claire Honeycutt’s Human Mobility Lab, where she studied the startle reflex as a tool to investigate the role of the brainstem in finger movement planning for future applications on stroke rehabilitation techniques. She also worked with Dr. Hermano Igo Krebs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology creating visual aids for a rehabilitation treadmill system for people with paralysis. Her interests in rehabilitation research and engineering pushed her to pursue a dual graduate degree. Currently, Joe is interested in studying patient specific traits that contribute to the variability of outcomes after neurotrauma using iPSCs models and bioelectronics. Her long-term goal is to improve rehabilitation techniques by implementing personalized therapy. Outside of lab, Joe enjoys traveling, doing yoga, biking and trying new food and ice cream places.
Dom D’Andrea, BS, Lab Technician
Dom D’Andrea grew up in Berkeley, CA. They received their undergraduate degree at Oberlin College, earning a BS in neuroscience. While there, they worked with Dr Michael Loose studying the brain circuitry involved in human decision making using EEG, and with Dr Keith Tarvin analyzing social competition in wild songbirds. After graduating they worked with Dr Nathan Cooper to study the breeding behavior and habitats of the Kirtland’s Warbler, a small endangered songbird native solely to an isolated area in Michigan. At the conclusion of that research project they moved to their current position as lab tech for Dr Colin Franz at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Now, they primarily focus on methods to increase peripheral nerve regeneration after injury through mouse and human stem cell models. Outside the lab, they enjoy painting and drawing, birds, fencing, D&D, and reading.
Kristen Cotton, BS, Research Assistant
Kristen grew up in the Dallas, Texas suburbs. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering in December of 2018. While she was a student she worked with Dr. John Finan to quantify actin reorganization in neurons after trauma in an in vitro model. Also, as a part of her senior design project, she work with Dr. Finan, Dr. John Rogers, and Dr. Colin Franz to design a flexible multielectrode array that collects electrophysiological data from neurons in vitro before and after stretch injury. This work introduced her to the Regenerative NeuroRehabilitation Laboratory, where she continues use flexible electronics alongside commercial devices to collect electrophysiological data from neurons in both 2D and 3D culture conditions. She also makes cortical and motor neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells for other experiments in the lab. Outside of the lab she enjoys watching Bob’s Burgers and taking walks along the lake (in the summer only!).
Alyssa Togliatti, MSc, Research Assistant
Born and raised in the southwest suburbs of Illinois, Alyssa (Ally) traveled south to the cornfields of Champaign to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for her undergraduate career. There she received her BS in Materials Science and Engineering with a primary concentration in Biomaterials and secondary focus in Polymers. Following graduation, Ally took a gap year and worked at the Illinois Mathematics and Science academy where she developed middle school curricula in accordance with the Next Generation Science Standards. Wanting to return to her passion of biomaterials, Ally enrolled and eventually graduated with her Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences from Midwestern University in Downers Grove, IL. There her research in Dr. Gasiorowski’s lab focused on synthesizing a biomimetic extracellular matrix scaffolding system using a technique called electrospinning. Downstream applications of these nanoscale topographies include wound healing and localized delivery of biologics to various structural dysfunction disorders, such as a peripheral nerve injury. It was this focus that brought her to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Dr. Franz’s Regenerative Neurorehabiliation Laboratory, where she is excited to integrate her previous work and expand upon it with the creation of an in vitro traumatic brain injury model. Outside of lab, you can find Ally enjoying a nice brew at the local coffee shop or hanging out with family and friends in the Chicago and Milwaukee suburbs.
Yasmine Bouricha, BS, Research Assistant
Yasmine was born and raised in Tunisia. She graduated in June 2019 with a BS in Microbiology from the University of Washington in Seattle. She joined the Franz lab as a research assistant and is currently testing the survivability of human motor neurons and muscle cells on 3D graphene scaffolds in vitro with the aim of using these materials surgically in patients. During her free time, Yasmine enjoys listening to music and drinking iced coffee.
Debbie Lee, MD, Chief Resident Physician in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Debbie Lee is a 4th year resident physician in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University/Shirley Ryan Abilitylab (SRAlab). She was born in South Korea and grew up in New Zealand prior to moving to Pennsylvania suburbs. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from University of Pennsylvania and practiced as a registered nurse at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania. During her transition to medical school, she worked with Dr. Joan O’Brien at Penn Medicine’s Scheie Eye Institute to identify the genetic loci of African Americans with primary open angle glaucoma. During medical school at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, she worked with Dr Leonard Krilov and Dr Paul Lee as the primary clinical researcher to identify clinical features in pediatric patients diagnosed with streptococcal pharyngitis that differentiate active infection from carrier-state with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus. She also spent time abroad in Ghana to contribute to a NIH-funded global health research project to shift the task of blood pressure management to nurses in rural communities and assess outcome. Throughout her residency at SRAlab, she has been working with Dr Colin Franz on a retrospective chart review to identify divergent rehabilitation capacity among traumatic brain injury patients, and assisting with Dr Franz’s project on the in vitro neutotrauma system to evaluate the effect of common BDNF genetic polymorphism on the survival of human cortical neurons generated from induced pluripotent stem cells with the hope of establishing clinical and laboratory characterization of severe traumatic brain injury patients. Outside the lab, she enjoys running, traveling, and playing with her niece.
Nikhil Murthy, MD MS, Resident Physician in Neurological Surgery
Nikhil is from Laguna Niguel, CA and has a BA in neurobiology from UC Berkeley. He worked as a professional percussionist and sound engineer for many years, before doing research in neurology and psychiatry at UCSF. He later attended Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he received an MD and a MS in biophysics. He is currently a neurosurgery resident at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and is completing his MBA at Kellogg School of Management. He has an interest in peripheral nerve regeneration and nerve tumors, as well as the use of medical devices in nerve surgery. His research efforts involve the use of bioresorbable wireless stimulators to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration.
Rohan Meda, Undergraduate Research Student
Rohan is from the suburbs of Chicago and is currently an undergraduate student attending Loyola University Chicago. He is pursuing a BS in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience with a minor in Bioethics while on the pre-medical track. He aspires to be an innovative physician who incorporates meaningful research in his future work – this is what drew him to the Franz Lab, Regenerative Neurorehabilitation Lab.
He has a wide spectrum of research interests including neuroscience, philosophy, bioethics, and spirituality. Currently in the Regenerative Neurorehabilitation Lab, he is working on a project involving the regenerative capacity of botulinum toxin as a treatment modality in peripheral nerve injury using a mouse model.