Event
Ph.D. Research Proposal Exam: Sydney Overton
Thursday, April 24, 2025
10:00 a.m.
AJC 3104, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Clark Building
Maria Hoo
301 405 3681
mch@umd.edu
ANNOUNCEMENT: Ph.D. Research Proposal Exam
Name: Sydney Overton
Committee:
Professor Reza Ghodssi (Chair)
Professor Kevin Daniels
Professor Timothy Horiuchi
Date/time: Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 10am-12pm
Location: AJC 3104, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Clark Building
Title: An Ingestible Capsule for Gastrointestinal Serotonin Sensing to Investigate the Gut-Brain Axis
Abstract:
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has been implicated as a key biomarker regulating the
gut-brain axis (GBA) due to its coincident role in brain and gastrointestinal (GI) functions.
Notably, 95% of 5-HT is produced in the GI epithelium in response to various conditions. 5-HT
regulates mood in the brain and essential processes like GI motility, fluid secretion, and immune
response. 5-HT has also been implicated in the cooccurrence of GI and neurological diseases,
motivating interest in the GBA and identifying methods to quantify 5-HT dynamics. Yet,
research insights have been limited by the absence of appropriate quantitative tools for
measuring 5-HT.
Electrochemical sensing provides a real-time method for measuring 5-HT concentrations,
enabling spatial-temporal detection of GI 5-HT. Integration of electrochemical sensing with
ingestible capsules – small, wireless devices designed to be swallowed – provides a systems
solution for noninvasively quantifying GI 5-HT.
This research proposal presents an ingestible capsule prototype capable of intermittently
measuring intestinal 5-HT, addressing a critical technology gap in GBA research. This ingestible
capsule system is expected to be a foundational prototype for a clinical research device to study
5-HT dynamics toward understanding the GBA. By leveraging biosensing, additive
manufacturing, and miniaturized electronics, this work will overcome the limitations of existing
technologies by addressing key systems integration challenges for ingestible capsules.
