Biography

Jessica Devlin is a senior Biological Sciences major, representing the class of 2024. She was born and raised just outside of New York City, in Yorktown Heights. Prior to attending URI, Jess participated in a science research program that selected hardworking high school students to pursue research of their choosing for three years. Inspired by a long family history of cancer, Jess first found her love for research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC as part of the Wolchok Lab. Her project explored the immunomodulatory effects of novel dual RAF/MEK Inhibitor CKI27 on tumor cells in mice models. As she began her college career, Jess worked full-time as a senior home care assistant, which struck her interest in neurodegenerative diseases that commonly affect older adults. She now works in the Van Nostrand Lab in the College of Pharmacy, alongside her mentor Dr. Van Nostrand. Her MARC project investigates potential protein biomarkers for Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA) in different disease stages of rTg-DI rat models. CAA is a common cerebral small vessel disease of older adults and prevalent comorbidity of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). CAA is characterized by progressive amyloid beta-peptide deposition in the cerebral vasculature leading to cerebral microhemorrhages, stroke, perivascular neuroinflammation, white matter damage, and severe cognitive impairment.

Jess is excited to begin her journey as a MARC U*STAR trainee and aspires to obtain her M.D.-Ph.D in biomedical sciences and make a difference in the lives of others. Outside of the classroom, you will find Jess in the library with a large iced coffee in hand or enjoying the outdoors with friends and family.