Principle Investigator
Nick Housley PhD, DPT, PT
Nick Housley is Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech. He earned his BS in Kinesiology from The University of Georgia, his DPT from Georgia State University where he focused on clinical neuroplasticity, his PhD in Applied Physiology from Georgia Institute of Technology before completing his postdoctoral fellowship in cancer neurobiology. Nick started his independent career on the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology in January 2025, where his group studies how nervous system, cancer, and its treatment interact in mammalian systems and develops nanostructures for multimodal applications in solid tumor cancers and neurologic disorders.
The Team
Zainab studies the mechanisms of cancer pathogenesis and cell-cell interactions using advanced computational and bioinformatics approaches.
Zainab Arshad, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Biological Sciences
zarshad6@
Jyotleen brings diligence, organization, and skilled hands to the operating room, enabling procedures to run efficiently
Jyotleen DeWal
Surgical Technician
School of Biological Sciences
jdewal@
Jing is studying the innervation between the ovary and peripheral nervous system, specifically the molecular and structural effects of this innervation.
Jing Zhang
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences
jzhang3369@
Marrissa synthesizes new nanoparticle formulations and evaluates their ability to load and deliver biotherapeutic cargo to various metastatic cancers
Marrissa Izykowicz
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
mizykowicz3@
Alisyn is working on immunoengineering nanoparticles to target and kill solid tumors and follicular B cell lymphoma by releasing cytotoxic payloads at programmable rates
Alisyn Bourque
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Mechanical Engineering & Bioengineering Program
bourque.a@
Aref is developing micro- and nanodevices to solve biological problems. He is creating organ-on-chip platforms for cell level modeling and characterization
Aref Valipour
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
aref@
Jungmin is exploring neuron-cancer interactions to uncover mechanisms that shape and influence tumor behavior
Jungmin Ha
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences
jha61@
Ilaha uses multi-omics data
to study cancer pathogenesis
and adverse events
related to cancer treatment
Ilaha Huseynli
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences - Bioinformatics
imusayeva3@
Mariana synthesizes new nanoparticle formulations and evaluates how their physiochemical properties influence biodistribution and delivery.
Mariana Sabino
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
mmasculi3@
Yvonne is using classic and intersectional neuroscience techniques to study the neuronal circuitry involved in cancer.
Yvonne Milligan
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences - Neuroscience
ymilligan6@
Liz is studying the functional consequences of cancer-neuron coupling in vivo and developing bespoke organoid systems to enable human relevant studies.
Dr. Liz van der Bijl, DPT
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences - Applied Physiology
ebijl3@
Camila studies the fundamental neurobiology of the ovary and how it changes during aging and other pathological conditions
Camila Perez
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences - Neuroscience
cperez94@
JJ studies the origin and functional consequences of newly identified cell populations in ovarian tumors.
JJ Baroth
Graduate Student - PhD
School of Biological Sciences - Biology
jbaroth3
Inara is developing new in vitro tools to study the autonomic nervous system.
Inara Sheeraz
Undergraduate - Neuroscience
College of Sciences
isheeraz3@
Collaborators
M.G. Finn, PhD
Chemical Biology
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Georgia Institute of Technology
Tim Cope, PhD
Neurophysiology
School of Biological Sciences & Dept. Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Paola Alberti, MD, PhD
PNS Diseases (CIPN)
School of Medicine and Surgery
University of Milano-Bicocca
Greg Gibson, PhD
Integrative Human Genomics
School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Jeff Skolnik, PhD
Cancer Metabolomics
School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Russell Jeter, PhD
Machine Learning for Healthcare
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Georgia State University
Tobey MacDonald, MD
Pediatric Neuro-Oncology
Department of Pediatrics
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Alumni
Image | Member | Degree and Year | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
Chiara Invernizzi | PhD Visiting Scholar | 2025 | |
Anagha M. Krishna | MS Bioinformatics | 2025 | |
Kylie Boyer | BS Chemistry and Biochemistry
| 2026 | |
Sydney Deutsch | BS Neuroscience | 2026 | |
William Oliver | BS Neuroscience | 2025 | |
Lilyan Luu | BS Neuroscience | 2025 | |
Divya Tadanki | BS Neuroscience | 2025 |
Funding Sources
