Abigail Reens

Abigail Reens, PhD has a diverse work experience in the field of microbiology. In 2021, they began working at Prolacta Bioscience as a Product Innovation Sr. Scientist - Host Microbe Interactions, and later as a Product Innovation Scientist - Host Microbe Interactions. From 2019-2021, they worked at Merck as a Merck Post-Doc: Mucosal Immunology and Microbiome Research, where they established and employed assays to evaluate the phenotype and function of dendritic cells and T cells and immomodulatory effects of microbiome-derived factors. From 2012-2013, they were a Graduate Research Assistant and PhD Candidate at the Detweiler Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, where they developed a high-throughput screen to identify antimicrobials with activity against intracellular Salmonella and investigated research questions within the transition from acute to chronic infection in a Salmonella typhoid fever model. In 2013, they were a T32 Trainee on the Signaling and Cellular Regulation NIH training grant. From 2011-2012, they were a Merck Biochemistry and In Vitro Pharmacology Co-Op, where they investigated mechanisms of action of lead drug candidates, screened weekly compounds in target engagement assays, and produced and characterized mutant forms of target enzymes. In 2010, they were an Undergraduate Researcher at the Wittrup Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they generated peptide binders to β-catenin for potential therapeutic applications in colorectal cancer.

Abigail Reens, PhD, received their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2019. Abigail also holds an SB in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which they earned between 2008 and 2012.