Veronica Coyle was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Insitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke which begins on February 1, 2026.
Veronica received her Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Biology and Biotechnology.
Veronica is a doctoral candidate in Neuroscience in the lab of Sarah Kucenas.
We asked Veronica to tell us about her research and hopes for the future:
Can you tell us about your research?
The Kucenas lab uses zebrafish to study the role of glia in neurodevelopment. One focus of our lab is understanding the cellular and molecular mediators driving developmental myelination. Myelination is an essential process in which select axons in the vertebrate nervous system are encased in a myelin sheath to increase the conduction velocity of action potentials and metabolically support the axon.
My work focuses on the role of a protein called Cd59, which is highly expressed in both oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells during development. Our lab previously showed that loss of Cd59 leads Schwann cells to over-proliferate but produce less myelin and impairs development of peripheral nodes of Ranvier. I am studying the role of Cd59 in oligodendrocytes and CNS myelin development. I have shown that loss of Cd59 does not impact proliferation but leads to myelin overgrowth across nodes of Ranvier. I am working to characterize myelin structure and CNS node of Ranvier organization in cd59 mutants. I am also trying to elucidate the mechanism by which Cd59 regulates myelin and node development. I hope that gaining a better understanding of developmental myelination will contribute to development of therapeutics for both developmental and degenerative disorders.
What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?
I have always been fascinated by the nervous system and understanding how the behavior of these tiny cells leads to behavior of an entire organism. Working with zebrafish allows me to watch these cells interact in vivo to get a really clear and beautiful picture of what is really going on during neurodevelopment.
I know how devastating neurological diseases can be and always hope that my work on these basic developmental mechanisms can have a broader impact on our understanding and treatment of disease.
What are your future goals?
I enjoy thinking about the relationship between seemingly opposite processes like development and degeneration. I am interested in how a better understanding of nervous system development can lead to understanding what goes wrong in disease, and how that information can aid in the therapeutic development. In the future I hope to remain in research, working to bridge the gap between basic science discoveries and translational applications to help patients.