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.
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.
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.
Thang earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Biomedical Engineering. In the Spinelli Lab, Thang hopes to gain expertise using mass spectrometry to study metabolic pathways in mammalian cells and tissues.
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. He has earned a fellowship from the American Heart Association.
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. She is the recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 fellowship through the NIDDK.
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.
Claire earned her Bachelor's degree from Stonehill College in Biology with a Mathematics minor. After undergrad, Claire worked as a technician for four years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Dr. Patricia Musolino's lab developing gene therapies for rare neurological diseases. Claire began her graduate education in 2024 and aims to focus her research on metabolic adaptations to disease in mammals.
Ines earned her bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Neuroscience from Augustana College. After graduation, she worked as a research associate at Yale University under the mentorship of Dr. Craig Crews, where she focused on drug development and cancer research. She is now pursuing her graduate studies at UMass Chan Medical School, continuing her work in cancer biology.
Sofia is a student at Worcester Technical High School and aspires to pursue a career in research centered on her passion for forensic science. She is excited to learn mass spectrometry in the Spinelli lab!
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.
Former Lab Members
Tenzin Tseyang, Research Associate 2022-2024
Paula Vo, Research Associate 2022-2024
Jacob Myers, Undergraduate Intern 2024
Michael Mireku, High School Intern 2024
Fairuz Chowdhury, High School Intern 2023
Andrew Izvolsky, High School Intern 2023