Zoe Hesp will present her dissertation defense titled "The Role of NG2+ Cells in Endogenous Repair after Spinal Cord Injury".
Zoe graduated from Miami University in 2012 with Bachelor’s degrees in Zoology and French, a minor in Neuroscience, and University Honors with Distinction & French Departmental Honors. While in undergraduate, Zoe worked in the lab of Dr. Lori Isaacson researching sympathetic regeneration of the brain vasculature following peripheral nerve injury. She joined Dr. Dana McTigue’s lab at The Ohio State University in 2012 to study the role of NG2+ progenitor cells in acute and chronic spinal cord injury models. While at OSU Zoe received the Extended Dean’s Distinguished University Fellowship (4 years of graduate funding), a Career Development Grant, and the 2015 Department of Neuroscience Trainee Research Award. She also received a 3-year F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowship from the NIH. While in graduate school, Zoe authored 3 first author papers, including two in the Journal of Neuroscience and one in the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, co-authored one review, and is preparing another first-author paper for submission. In addition to her research, Zoe has interned for the past year as a Research Analyst for the Neurotechnology Innovations Translator helping to develop novel medical devices for neurological disorders. Additionally, she has served as a national officer for the past 6 years for Nu Rho Psi, the National Honor Society for Neuroscience, and was recently elected as President-Elect for the society.
