Jessica completed her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and her Ph.D. in Bioengineering as an NSF Fellow from the University of California – San Francisco and Berkeley. During her undergraduate and graduate research studies, Jessica developed the first directed differentiation protocol of V2a interneurons, an excitatory neuron found in the brainstem and spinal cord, from mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Jessica then completed her postdoctoral training as an NRSA Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine researching neuronal fate decisions of the Atoh1-expression lineage in the developing brainstem.
Jessica has a deep interest in what drives neural fate decisions, particularly in the brainstem. Connecting the brain to the spinal cord, the brainstem is the most evolutionarily conserved part of the nervous system and is responsible for our everyday survival including regulating heart rate and respiration. Despite the importance of the brainstem, little is known about how it develops and how diverse neuronal functions are carried out. Her lab focuses on uncovering in vivo developmental programs to engineering new in vitro neuronal models from pluripotent stem cells. These findings are then used to model various neurological diseases that affect the brainstem.
Research Focus
The brainstem is the highway of synaptic information between the brain to the spinal cord. It is made up of many groupings of neurons that carry out specific functions including those necessary for sensation, locomotion, hearing, breathing, and heart rate. The Butts lab utilizes tissue engineering strategies and multi-omic approaches to develop stem cell-derived brainstem in vitro models mimicking native neural development. The Butts lab is directly associated with the Bioengineering Department and Neuroengineering Initiative at Rice University, while also connecting with collaborators within the surrounding Texas Medical Center incuding Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital.
Defining neural fate decisions and function in the brainstem: Despite that brainstem being so critical to human life, little is understood about how the different types of neurons in the brainstem are developed. By understanding the genetic programs that change during development, we can understand what drives neurons to be diverse in space, time, and function. Our lab is currently focusing on Atoh1-expressing progenitors that give rise to over 40 different cell types throughout the brainstem and cerebellum. We use genetic mouse models to label specific neuronal populations that can be manipulated and analyzed with single-cell and spatial multi-omics to uncover neural fate decisions.
Tissue engineered models of the brainstem: In vitro cell models enable the study of human cells, scaling of therapeutic testing, and investigation of cell replacement strategies. However, it is important that these cell models mimic native development and tissue structure. Due to the complexity of the brainstem, there is a lack of tissue engineered models that recapitulate its structure and function in a dish. The Butts Lab is using guidance from development as a roadmap to design improved tissue engineered models of the brainstem.
Modeling of neurological disease: Regions of the brainstem are vulnerable to neurological diseases including Parkinson’s Disease, ALS, and the most common pediatric brain cancer – medulloblastoma. Our lab is using mouse model systems and stem cell-derived neuronal populations to elucidate disease mechanisms and design testbeds for therapies for these life-altering neurological diseases.