Aya Abdalla

My research interests include the development of novel tools, through the combination of different disciplines in science and engineering, which can aid us in studying the human body and how it is affected by disease, diet, and our environment. 

Current research projects:

• The development of an analytical probe to monitor the levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in tissues during the progress of tumors and after administration of different therapies.
• The development of novel 3D-printed materials for various biological applications

Previous research projects:

• Developing an in vivo method for determining ambient levels of serotonin across brain circuitry at high temporal resolutions
• Determining differences in serotonergic innervation, modulation, and regulation in various brain regions using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry.

I completed my undergraduate degree at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, in 2013 where I earned two Bachelor degrees; Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. I then travelled to the United States to complete my Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina with Dr. Parastoo Hashemi. It is there that I started learning about the complexities of the human mind and how factors like stress and depression can greatly alter the biology of the central nervous system. I became very interested in how we, as scientists, can develop the tools necessary to ask a wide spectrum of questions. During my 5 years in the Hashemi lab, I worked on a wide range of projects including the development of a novel tool to monitor the ambient levels of serotonin in vivo and in real time. Studying the intricacies of serotonin as a neuromodulator and how widely it varies in the brain and under different stressors was a major part of my work, that I accomplished mainly through the use of fast-scan controlled adsorption voltammetry and fast scan cyclic voltammetry .

I am presently a research fellow at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular sciences working with Dr. Bhavik Patel and Dr. Melanie Flint.