Moriah Weese

Moriah is a rising senior at our own University of Cincinnati studying biochemistry and biology. This summer, as the Dr. John & Richard Michelman Fellow, she is continuing to work in the Ross research group using electrochemical methods to study molecules associated with brain and immuno responses. She was published earlier this year in the ACS Sensors journal - the link is provided below.

Moriah describes her research as follows:

I am studying amino acids and neuropeptides using fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV). FSCV uses microelectrodes to detect characteristic oxidations and reduction of neurochemicals as they're released by changing the electrode potential and measuring the resulting current. Because FSCV has only been around for three decades and brain signalling knowledge is rapidly advancing, amino acids and small signaling proteins have not yet been studied. I'm examining the characteristic patterns found on electroactive amino acids and several neurochemical and immune signalling proteins, as well as investigating their similarity to pH shifts, which frequently occur after neurons signal. I've also worked on electrode surface chemistr

y and its impact on fouling (see citation below), and am currently working towards developing an FSCV-compatible immunosensor capable of detecting and differentiating between cytokines.

ACS Sens. 2019, 4, 4, 1001-1007 : “Defect Sites Modulate Fouling Resistance on Carbon-Nanotube Fiber Electrodes”