Margaret Bell, PhD
Dr. Bell joined Biological Sciences and Health Sciences at DePaul in the Fall of 2016 and is also affiliated with the Neuroscience Program. She earned her BA in Biology from Boston University, PhD in Neuroscience from Michigan State University with Cheryl Sisk, and completed a postdoc with Andrea Gore at University of Texas at Austin. She teaches Cell Biology (BIO 250), Intro to Endocrinology (BIO 386), Intro Bio (191) labs, Brain and Behavior (BIO 126), Foundations in Health Sciences (HLTH 200), and Physiology of Poverty (HLTH 325/BIO225). She has two loud kiddos, a teacher husband, and a shy cat. In *all her spare time*, she likes to run and camp.
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Carissa DresselCarissa began her MS in the lab in Fall 2021 and is currently studying NFkB signaling in response to microglial immune challenge using primary cell culture. She also assists with other projects and lab responsibilities as a research technician. She is planning on graduating in December of 2023 and is applying for PhD programs to continue her education. In her undergrad, she studied biotechnology and professional writing. In her free time, she enjoys playing piano, violin, and writing original songs!
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Gia Valdez
Gia has been part of the Bell Lab since 2022. She is currently a student studying Psychology with Cognitive Neuroscience concentration and she hopes to grow her knowledge by expanding into Computer Science. She’s currently interested in affective and predictive brain behavior as a result of environmental factors. She plans to continue her education in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience research after graduation.
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Catalina Torres ReyesCatalina joined the Bell lab in 2022. She studies Health Sciences with a concentration in Biosciences. She plans to graduate in the Spring of 2023 and continue her education in medical school. Catalina is a member of the all-women's acapella group, Take Note, and works at the front desk at the Office of Student Involvement. She loves listening to music and making jewelry. Fun fact: she is left-handed!
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Shawn Kissinger
Shawn joined the Bell lab in the summer of 2022. He studies Integrative Neuroscience and is triple minoring in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Psychology. He plans to graduate in the Spring of 2024 and continue his education in a PhD/MD program. Shawn is the current president of the Neuroscience National Honors Society, Nu Rho Psi, and the founder of the student organization Pre-Med Pals. Shawn is also a Resident Advisor, has a husky named Lobo, and is a volunteer crisis counselor at The Trevor Project. |
Addison Fitzgibbon
Addison joined the Bell lab in the fall of 2022. She studies Biological Sciences with a concentration in Medicine. She plans to graduate in the Spring of 2025 and continue her education in medical school. Addison is also the Director of Finance for DePaul’s Doctors Without Boarders and volunteers with Northwestern Memorial. Additionally, she likes to paint and draw. |
Alumni
Mahmood Shah
Mahmood has been in the Bell lab since the summer of 2021 and is majoring in Neuroscience with a cellular/molecular concentration. Mahmood is now an expert at (trouble-shooting) microglial isolations! He plans to graduate in autumn of 2022 and work in a neuroscience related career before hopefully heading to medical school. Mahmood loves to play soccer, cook, and watch Syrian/Lebanese shows in his free time.
Sabah Vikaruddin
Sabah is a neuroscience major with a minor in biology. She has been a part of the Bell lab since 2021 and is an expert in pippeting small quantities of liquid in all things molecular! She is applying to med school and is graduating from DePaul in June 2022. Sabah loves rock-climbing and dancing in her free time.
Kristina BellKristina has been part of the Bell lab since 2019 and graduated in Winter of 2021. She's currently working in the lab and as a Chemistry SI before beginning medical school this Fall! Kristina loves drawing, and once composed a twelve-piece pen and ink collection about Chicago architecture!
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Matt LeeMatt joined out lab in 2019. He studies health sciences and plans to graduate in 2023. Matt is currently sectioning brains and working on a systematic review looking at whether certain husbandry conditions of animals alter observations of sex-effects and sex-dependent effects on anxiety-related outcomes. Matt lived on a navy base for 7 years of his life and is looking to go to medical school after graduating.
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Isiah Henry
Isiah joined the lab in in 2019. He is a neuroscience major with plans to graduate in 2021, with Med School goals after that. Isiah has been active with cryostat sectioning and histology prep.
Isabel Grandy
Isabel joined the Bell lab in 2021, she studies Cognitive/Behavioral Neuroscience with minors in Psychology and Biology. She plans to graduate in 2022 and wants to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Isabel loves trying new foods and watching football.
Simone RhodesSimone has been in our lab since 2017. She is currently a master's student majoring in Biological Sciences and hopes to graduate by the end of summer in 2021. Simone is currently working on her thesis project studying the effects of perinatal PCB exposure on affective and reward seeking behaviors during adolescence. Simone is currently studying for the MCAT and preparing to apply next year. She loves to bake, so find her during finals for some tasty treats!
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Yasmeen LoweYasmeen joined our lab in 2019 and graduated in 2021. She completed a postbac research program at Northwestern University and is now beginning her PhD in Neuroscience! Yasmeen loves bungee jumping, after she gets past the fear of free falling, and tries to keep a list of cute facts about animals whose species are endangered.
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Brii Plourde
Brii joined our team in 2019 and graduated in 2021. She studied cognitive/behavioral neuroscience and minored in biological sciences. She is currently working and hopes to start a PhD program in Neuroscience. Fun fact: Brii is ambidextrous!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaplourde/ |
Ava DevaneyAva graduated with her BS in Psychology with a minor in Biological Science in 2021. Ava worked with primary cell culture and is broadly interested how our lived experience affect our brain and behavior. Ava is also obsessed with sharks. She completed her CNA and is now working as a technician in a lab in Boston.
Part of our team 2019-2021 |
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Kameron KaplanKameron joined the lab in 2020 and graduated shortly thereafter! He's still active in tissue prep and immunohistochemistry runs while he looks for Neuroscience PhD programs.
Katherine WalkerM.S. in Biological Sciences, Aug 2020
B.S. in Health Sciences, June 2018 Working as a lab manager while applying to PhD programs! Part of our team from 2017-2020 Debbie LibermanB.S. in Biological Sciences, Class of 2019
Started a PhD program in Cancer biology at NYU in 2020! Part of our team from 2018-2020 |