Affiliation: University of Connecticut

Jessica received her a PhD in Chemistry from Prof. Bruce E. Eaton’s laboratory at the University of Colorado in 2012. It was during her time in Colorado that Jessica used in vitro selection platforms to explore RNA’s potential to mediate the formation of inorganic nanoscale structures, much like an organism can guide the formation of bones and shells using biological templates. After completing her PhD, Jessica began her postdoctoral studies in 2013 in the laboratory of Prof. Chad A. Mirkin at Northwestern University. In the Mirkin Laboratory, she applied the skills she learned for interfacing RNA and inorganic materials for developing enzymatic assembly approaches useful for synthesizing RNA gold nanoparticle conjugates with the potential for intracellular gene regulation applications. In 2015, Jessica joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut, where she is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry. There she combines the chemical diversity of nucleic acids with the synthesis of nanoscale materials for a wide variety of applications in biological systems.