About
Research Interests: Metabolic influence on cell-type diversity during cortical development
Jessenya Mil is currently a PhD Candidate in the Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB) home area of the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Doctoral Program (MBIDP). She earned a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from Linfield University at McMinnville, Oregon in 2019. During her undergraduate studies, Jessenya worked under Dr. Dhandpany Perundurai at Oregon Health & Science University where she studied how a disrupted sleep cycle alters redox metabolism and induces heart failure in a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy model, a type of cardiovascular disease. Currently, Jessenya investigates key metabolic pathways that are essential for promoting cell-type diversity during cortical development. She uses cortical organoids as a model system to target these key metabolic pathways and assess their impact on the resulting cell-type composition. When not in the lab, she enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, spending time at the beach, and playing soccer.