Abby Myers is a Ph.D. student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program, a multidisciplinary, Ph.D.-granting program that has more than 50 faculty mentors across nine departments in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the Larner College of Medicine.
In the following blog post, she reflects on past childhood dreams to her current cutting-edge research on the pineal gland on the path to becoming a neuroscientist.
“The connections I’ve made with undergraduate students, lab technicians, fellow graduate students, core facility staff, and faculty at UVM have been invaluable to both the success of my project and the growth of my passion for science.”
In April 2025, eight Ph.D. students—including three in Larner-affiliated graduate programs—competed for cash prizes during the University of Vermont’s Research Week in the second annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition, sponsored by UVM’s Graduate College. Neuroscience Graduate Program student Abby Myers, advised by Larner Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences James Stafford, Ph.D., won second place in the competition for her presentation on melatonin release therapeutic technology to help correct dysregulated circadian rhythms.
From Small Town Roots to Neuroscience Innovation
I grew up in a small town in western Pennsylvania. From a young age, I was encouraged to follow my passions, stay curious, and look for ways to help others. Those values led me to continuously ask questions, explore new ideas, and imagine creative possibilities. If you had asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answers would have ranged from a teacher to a doctor, or if I was feeling overly confident, a professional basketball player. It wasn’t until about halfway through college that I realized what I really wanted to become was a scientist.
I earned my bachelor of science in biochemistry from the University of Hartford in 2021. Some of my favorite learning moments in undergrad were in lab courses, working to form hypotheses, design experiments, and interpret new data. During that time, I joined Andrew Koob, Ph.D.’s research group, where I worked on a project exploring astrocyte-mediated protein interactions in Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative condition. This project ignited my passion for neuroscience and ultimately led me to pursue the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Vermont.
Tiny Glands, Big Questions: Exploring Melatonin with 3D Brain Models
When I started at UVM, I had a broad interest in learning about the brain and was open to many different subfields of neuroscience. Under the mentorship of Dr. Stafford, I quickly found my niche in the field of circadian neurobiology, specifically focusing on the development of a novel model of the pineal gland. This small structure in the brain is responsible for producing the hormone melatonin, which plays a central role in regulating sleep and coordinating neural, cardiac, respiratory, metabolic, and immune function. Thus, the pineal gland is key to maintaining overall physiological health and is a compelling target for deeper study.
However, many current in vitro methods for examining pineal function use 2D culture techniques, which don’t fully capture how the structure of the tissue influences its function. To overcome this, our lab created small, 3D cellular structures composed of melatonin-producing pinealocytes and supporting astrocytes. These mini pineal glands can be grown and studied in the lab, offering a more realistic and dynamic model of melatonin biology. Our goal in developing this new model was twofold: testing the pineal organoids first as a component of a cell-based therapeutic system to deliver melatonin more naturally and effectively, and second as a platform to improve our understanding of the factors that set the pineal gland’s capacity to produce melatonin, with a specific interest in biological sex differences.
To test the organoids as a therapeutic tool, we integrated them into a 3D-printed medical device that supports cell health, function, and responsiveness. When stimulated, these units produce melatonin and release it into their surroundings—a key requirement for any therapeutic delivery implant. When placed in experimental animals, these devices act as small “biopharmacies,” producing melatonin from within the body for up to 10 days. Now, to further advance our model as an experimental platform for investigating pineal function, we are collaborating with Yangguang Ou, Ph.D.’s lab at UVM. Together, we’re optimizing a biosensor system that can detect real-time changes in melatonin levels in response to stimulation, hormone treatments, and pharmacological interventions, which will be recorded in male- and female-derived pineal organoids. This will provide new insight into the regulatory factors that influence melatonin production and may reveal new ways to control it for therapeutic benefit.
Modeling the Mind Takes a Team
The development and execution of these studies have been made possible by a team of neuroscientists, materials scientists, chemists, and engineers. One key lesson I’ve learned from this project is the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, and I feel fortunate to work at an institution that values teamwork and innovation. The connections I’ve made with undergraduate students, lab technicians, fellow graduate students, core facility staff, and faculty at UVM have been invaluable to both the success of my project and the growth of my passion for science. As I continue my time at UVM, I’m excited to take a deeper dive into experiments that explore the potential of our pineal organoid system. Outside the lab, I plan to continue enjoying the outdoors with friends, playing local pick-up sports, discovering new ice cream spots around Burlington, and embracing all that Vermont has to offer!
