Dr. Neel Aluru
Associate Scientist With Tenure
My research interests are mainly focused in the field of Environmental Epigenetics. I am particularly interested in understanding the epigenetic processes involved in determining phenotypic (and/or developmental) plasticity.
My research is aimed at exploring these mechanisms in aquatic organisms that display plasticity in response to variety of environmental cues. In addition, I am interested in investigating the role of different epigenetic mechanisms of action associated with long-term effects of exposure to stressors, especially during early development. I use a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate model systems (Zebrafish, Atlantic killifish, Daphnia spp.) and employ a number of different molecular biology methods –gene-specific to high-throughput sequencing to study epigenetic modes of action.
Overall, I strive to understand the fundamental mechanisms that provide animals the ability to cope with environmental and anthropogenic stressors.
Dr. Chris Murray
Research Associate III
Chris is an integrative fish biologist who studies how marine fish cope with the rapid and concurrent environmental changes driven by global and regional anthropogenic impacts. He uses experimental approaches from ecophysiology and molecular ecology to examine the bioenergetic, biochemical, and transcriptional responses elicited by environmental stressors. Chris joined the lab in 2022 as a postdoctoral investigator funded by an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Oceanography, where he investigated the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms underlying multigenerational plasticity in response to early-life exposure to combined ocean acidification and hypoxia in a coastal forage fish species. He now leads several of the lab’s projects focused on the toxicological, transcriptional, and physiological effects of environmental stressors on wild fish populations.
Mekia Bushell
MIT-WHOI Joint Program Student
Mekia earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences and completed a multi-year, NIH-funded biomedical research program at the University of Alaska. After graduation, she worked as a research fellow with NOAA and contributed to developing a harmful algal bloom forecast and implementing toxin testing. Now as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Aluru lab, she is interested in elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of phycotoxins, their interactions with other contaminants, and their effects on neurodevelopment. Mekia is passionate about addressing critical issues at the intersection of oceans and human health.
Alumni
Dr. Racliffe Weng Seng Lai
Racliffe is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Macau, China. His work delves into the joint effects of environmental stressors on chemical toxicity and explores the interactions within chemical mixtures. Racliffe joined the lab in summer 2024 as a guest investigator. His research focuses on uncovering the toxic mechanisms of anatoxin-a in zebrafish.
Dr. Jordan Pitt
Jordan obtained a B.S. in Chemistry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her undergraduate work focused on the toxicity of nanoplastics to fish. In 2018, she joined the Aluru and Hahn lab. As a NSF graduate research fellow, her dissertation research focused on the mechanisms by which pollutants affect vertebrates with a focus on marine organisms.
Jordan is currently an ecological and biological scientist at Exponent.
Dr. Alia Hidayat
Alia did her undergraduate work at the University of Washington, receiving a B.S. in Molecular Biology with a minor in Marine Biology. She joined the Aluru lab in 2017 and is a NSF Graduate Research Fellow. She studied the effects of algal toxins on the central nervous system. She is particularly interested in how microglia – the immune cells of the brain – can mediate effects that last well into an individual’s lifetime.
Alia is currently a senior policy analyst on the Conservation Policy team at American Progress.
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Alia is also passionate about bringing science into the community through education and communication. As part of this effort, she teaches science lessons in local classrooms and helps run the Broader Impacts Group at WHOI, a student group dedicated to supporting science outreach.
Alia’s work is part of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (WHCOOH).
Dr. Jennifer Panlilio
Jenny studied the effects of harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins on the developing nervous system. Exposure to HAB toxins occur mainly through eating contaminated seafood. While there are regulations that exist to prevent exposure to high doses, seafood is still harvested and consumed with measurable levels of toxins. Using zebrafish, Jenny aimed to identify potential mechanisms by which low doses of the harmful algal bloom toxin, domoic acid can affect circuit formation and behavioral responses. To accomplish this, she used zebrafish as tool to track neurons during development and record whole brain neural activity in living larvae.
Jenny’s work is part of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (WHCOOH)
Jenny currently works as DxA analyst at Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.
Past members
Postdoctoral Scholar
Lilah Glazer (Currently a Biology Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London), 2013-2015
Research Assistants
Sara Mindek (UConn Avery Point), 2017-2020
Veronica De Pascuale (Oberlin College), 2018-2019
Helena McMonagle (Wellesley College), 2017-2018; Currently a Knauss Fellow
Keegan Krick (UMass Boston), 2015-2016 and Dec.-Jan 2017
Zach Mickiewicz (UMass Dartmouth), 2014-2016
Matt Schetne, 2013-2014
Gale Clark, 2012-2013
Undergraduate Students
Elle Thompson, Summer Student 2024
Sophie Ralston, UMass Amherst, Guest student 2024
Jacob Hemeon, Cape Cod Community College, Blue Economy Program Winter 2024
Ayanna Mays, 2022-2023 PEP Summer Student
Adriane McDonald (Spelman College), 2018 Summer Student Fellow
Ch’ng Chin Chin, 2018 Guest Student
Jan Engelhardt, 2018 Guest Student
Veronica De Pascuale (Oberlin College), 2017 Summer Student Fellow
Daniel Chapman (Eckerd College), 2016 NOAA Hollings Scholar
Victoria Garefino (University of South Carolina), 2016 Summer Student Fellow
Daniel Chapman (Eckerd College), 2016 NOAA Hollings Scholar
Carlo Bocconcelli (Brown University), 2015 Guest Student
Lukas John (Brown University), 2015 Guest Student
Whitney Jaillet (Harvard University), 2015 Guest Student
Lily Helfrich (Northwestern University), 2014 Summer Student Fellow
Shaneese Mackay (Savannah State University), 2014 Summer Intern
Elizabeth Meyer (Wheaton College), Winter 2013
Elaine Kuo (Stanford University), 2013 Summer Student Fellow
Kristina Deak (Northeastern University), 2011 Summer Student Fellow
High School Students
Rebecca Butler and Anna Metri
Emma Stillman
Katie Armstrong, Falmouth Academy (Transgenerational effects of Bisphenol A in Daphnia)
Emma Stillman, Falmouth Academy (Metabolic enzyme profiling in Quahogs)