Lab Members
Jessica is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in the Program in Molecular Medicine Department. She earned her Ph.D in Chemical Biology from Harvard University in 2019 and did postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Her work has broadly been focused on understanding how mammalian cells sense and adapt to metabolic stress in healthy and disease contexts.
Tenzin earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Neuroscience from University of Massachusetts Amherst. After completing her undergraduate training Tenzin worked in the Whitehead Institute metabolite profiling core. She is now pursuing her research interests in mitochondria and metabolic flexibility and aspires to go to graduate school and ultimately become a physician scientist.
Jonathan earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Chemical Engineering. After his undergraduate training Jonathan worked as a technician at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He is now pursuing his interest in metabolic changes in mammalian disease as a research associate in the Spinelli Lab and hopes to pursue his Ph.D studying immunology.
Paula earned her Bachelor's in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. After her undergraduate training she joined the Ambros lab at UMass Chan Medical school as a research technician. She is now a joint research technician between the Ambros and Spinelli labs and is excited to pursue her research interests in mitochondrial metabolism. Paula aspires to attend graduate school and become a physician scientist.
Madison earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Ecology and Evolution. After her undergraduate training, Madison worked as a Shorebird Monitor for Mass Audubon to research and protect Piping Plovers. She is now pursuing laboratory research in the Spinelli Lab and is aspiring to go to graduate school.
Nils earned his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in the department of Mitochondrial Proteostasis. He is now pursuing his postdoctoral research in the Spinelli lab following his interest in mitochondrial biology and metabolism.
Manisha earned her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. After her undergraduate training, she worked at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for two years focusing on antibody purification. In 2022, she began her Ph.D at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Biomedical Sciences. She is now pursuing her research interests in neurodegeneration and metabolism.
Nicolai earned his bachelors degree from the University of Southern California in Biological Sciences. After his undergraduate training he worked at LA BioMed in a Cardiac CT lab. Next, Nicolai worked in the lab of Dr. Albert Edge at the Mass Eye and Ear Institute on inner ear hair cell regeneration before moving to the lab of Dr. Douglas Melton at Harvard University to work on stem-cell based therapies for the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes. At UMass Chan Medical School Nicolai is pursuing his interests in stem-cell biology and Diabetes with a focus on mitigating hypoxia during tissue transplantation.
Ally earned her Bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Maryland in Biochemistry. After her undergraduate training she began her Ph.D at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Biomedical Sciences. She is now pursuing her research interests in mitochondrial biology and mammalian disease.
Diana earned her bachelor’s degree from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia in Chemistry and Microbiology. After her undergraduate training she worked in the lab of Dr Frank Schroeder at Cornell University focusing on small molecule signaling in C. elegans. In 2023 Diana began her PhD at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Biomedical Sciences. Now she is pursuing her research interests in mitochondria metabolism and the adaption of mammalian cells to hypoxia.
Michael loves to be active, listen to music, and learn new things. He recently graduated from the Worcester Technical High School Biotechnology program. Michael is pursuing college in the fall and majoring in biology. He is excited to study metabolism in the Spinelli lab this summer!
Jacob is a senior undergraduate at Vanderbilt University studying Biochemistry, Math, and Science Communication. At Vanderbilt, he works in the lab of Dr. Elma Zaganjor where he studies the role of nucleotide biosynthesis in obesity-mediated disease and mitochondrial metabolism. In the Spinelli Lab, he is continuing to pursue his research interests in metabolic dysfunction. Once he finishes undergrad, he hopes to pursue a PhD in biomedical sciences.
Bucatini is the official mascot of the Spinelli lab. Bucatini passionately seeks to understand the metabolic fate of boiled chicken and aspires to elucidate the origin of tennis balls.