Aspen Gutgsell under the direction of Dr. Saskia Neher, successfully defended her dissertation on March 30, 2020 and received her PhD
The title of her dissertation is “Novel Strategies to Enhance LPL Activity In Vivo.”
Aspen received a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Biochemistry and Chemistry from New Mexico State University. Her first research experience was focused on studying kinesin proteins under the guidance of Dr. Brad Shuster. Before attending UNC Chapel Hill, she completed an HHMI EXROP summer internship at the University of Washington in the lab of Dr. Randall Moon where she studied tissue regeneration.
Aspen Gutgsell joined the Biochemistry and Biophysics department in 2015. During her time in our department, she served as a student representative on our Graduate Education Committee (GECO) and was co-chair of a departmental student seminar series. She has enjoyed volunteering for community science outreach events where she participated in the annual North Carolina DNA Day as an instructor to teach interactive science lessons to high school students across the state. She volunteered at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham and was also an instructor for monthly lab-based science workshops for homeschool children. In addition to her volunteer work, she was elected to chair a Gordon Research Seminar in Lipoprotein Metabolism in 2020. Aspen also received a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association to fund her graduate research in drug discovery. Aspen is planning to continue working in the field of drug discovery and will be moving to Sweden in the summer of 2020.
Good luck Aspen on your upcoming adventures.