Abstract:

Communication between the nervous system and immune system is vital for maintaining health yet remains difficult to probe with precise temporal and spatial resolution. Our lab develops electrochemical and microfluidic methods, to close this critical gap in measurement science. Specifically, we have developed new electrochemical methods and electrode materials for fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) detection which have enabled us to expand these tools to new analytes involved in neuroimmune communication and other analytes previously not studied. FSCV is a classic electroanalytical technique most often used in the brain to study neurotransmitter signaling on a 100-ms timescale; however, our lab has pushed the boundaries of this technique by expanding its use to study neurochemical events in immune organs like the lymph node, intestine, and spleen. In addition, combining FSCV with microengineered platforms and devices has provided us an experimental platform to probe neurotransmitter signaling in multiple organs simultaneously ex vivo during communication. This talk will highlight some of our recent work in this area on method development and the application of these methods to mechanisms of neurochemical-regulated cell signaling.

About the Speaker:

Ashley Ross is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati and faculty in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. She earned her Ph.D. in 2014 from the University of Virginia under the guidance of Dr. Jill Venton. She completed her post-doctoral training in Dr. Rebecca Pompano’s lab at the University of Virginia where she was an American Association of Immunology Careers in Immunology Fellow. She received the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2022 and was recently named a “Top 40 under 40” in the Analytical Scientists. Her lab has also received funding from an NSF CAREER, the NIH, and from the RCSA. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Features Panel of ACS Analytical Chemistry, the Analyst, and RSC Chemical Reviews, and is on the Board of Directors for the Society of Electroanalytical Chemistry.