Clarissa Henry
Professor, School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine
Director of the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence: Extracellular Regulation of Cellular Behavior
Graduate Researchers
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Ahmed Almaghasilah, Ph.D
Ahmed is a student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (GSBSE) program at University of Maine, and recently successfully defended his graduate thesis. His thesis work was titled "Computational Approaches to Understanding Complex Biological Systems," applying computational approaches to analyzing data in muscular dystrophy, yeast cell polarity, and prostate cancer models. Additionally he has investigated the relation between Duchenne Muscular Disease and the heterochromatin structure in nuclei.
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Mary Astumian, Ph.D
Mary is a recent Biomedical Science PhD student in the GSBSE program at University of Maine, who successfully defended her thesis in December 2024. Her research, titled "Neuromuscular Health and Membrane Proteins: The Nanoscale Distribution of Laminin Receptors in Zebrafish Muscle" applied FPALM super-resolution imaging technology to elucidate dystroglycan and integrin alpha7 subcellular localization in live, whole organisms.
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Amanda Ignacz
PhD Candidate
Amanda is a fifth-year, Biomedical Science PhD Candidate in the GSBSE program at the University of Maine. Her interests lie in neuromuscular disease research and muscle development. Her current research focuses on characterizing disease progression in a zebrafish model for dpm3-associated dystroglycanopathy. She was recently awarded the nationally competitive Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31) fellowship from the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, titled "Identifying tissue-specific interactions to bridge mechanisms underlying muscle degeneration in Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation and Dystroglycanopathies."
Kodey Silknitter
PhD Candidate
Kodey is a fifth-year, Biomedical Science PhD Candidate in the GSBSE program at the University of Maine. He uses both bioinformatics and molecular approaches to investigate cellular mechanisms involved with several forms of muscular dystrophy. His current research works towards understanding how the development and homeostasis of motor neurons is impacted by muscular dystrophy, and he is set to defend his thesis in Summer 2025. He was awarded the Biology and Ecology Animal Science Research Award from the School of Biology and Ecology in Spring 2025. Aside from research Kodey enjoys mentoring undergraduate and high school students.
Mia Corradi
Undergraduate Research Assistant​
Mia is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the School of Biology and Ecology and the Honors College at the University of Maine. She is interested in expanding her knowledge of biomedical research and currently works with graduate student Kodey to better understand and characterize muscular dystrophies. She defended her Honors thesis, "Characterizing the Multi-System Impacts of crppa-Associated Dystroglycanopathy," in December 2024. Mia's next step after graduation will be attending a PhD program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
McHenna Martin
Undergraduate Research Assistant
McHenna is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UMaine. In her current research, she works with Kodey Silknitter and Mia Corradi to investigate secondary dystroglycanopathies and their impact on neuronal and muscular development. Outside of her research, her interests include general disease heritability, genetics, and cancer biology. In her off time McHenna enjoys fiber arts, collecting rocks and minerals, and playing Legend of Zelda.
Grace Hodgkin
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Jayson Tatcher
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Jayson is a third year undergraduate student majoring in biology. His work in the lab focuses on studying the effects of cell transplantation in mutant and wild type zebrafish. In his free time he enjoys playing guitar, playing tennis, swimming, and hanging out with animals.
Former Graduate Students
Lab Alumni
Grace is a Junior majoring in Biology with a Pre-Medical Concentration at the University of Maine. She is working with Ahmed as an undergraduate research assistant and she is investigating muscle regeneration with/without the presence of NAD+ via DanioVision, birefringence, and brightfield. Her favorite thing to do outside of the lab is scuba dive.
Former Graduate Students
Sean Driscoll, MS
Sarah Alrowaished, PhD
Elisabeth Kilroy, PhD
Erin Bailey, PhD
Beth Coffey, PhD​
Michelle Goody, PhD
Former Undergraduate Students
Lillian Warwick
Enehila Diaz-Resto
Emily Fraser
Ethan Varney
Katie Doughty
Daisy Drinkert
Devon Varney
Montana Benning
Claire Schaffer
Kaylee Brann
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Everett
Lab Alumni
Former Lab Technicians
Stephen Pecylak
Claire Schaffer
Eli Nixon
Mary Astumian
Tam
Lab Mascots
Undergraduate Researchers
Everett
You can find Everett taking naps in Clarissa's office. His favorite time is Saturday morning at the farmers market where he enjoys swimming with his friends in the river. He is always looking forward to meet new friends!
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Tamarack
Tam is the youngest member in Henry lab. You may find him wandering the halls looking for people to pet him, and if you see him goofing around in Hitchner halls please take him back to our lab (room 217). His favorite time is playing with his brother Everett, and he loves meeting new people!
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