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The Regenerative Neurorehabilitation Laboratory congratulates Maria Jose “Joe” Quezada, DPT/PhD on the completion of her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. Joe successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in October 2024 and was formally hooded at Northwestern Engineering’s PhD Hooding and Master’s Recognition Ceremony on December 14, 2024.
Joe completed the dual DPT/PhD program in Biomedical Engineering, integrating clinical rehabilitation training with advanced engineering research. Her doctoral thesis, Engineering Human Spinal Cord Organoids for in vitro Studies of Motor Neuron Biology and Neurotrauma, focused on developing human stem cell based platforms to study motor neuron health, injury mechanisms and patient specific variability in recovery after neurotrauma.
Originally from Mexico, Joe earned her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at Arizona State University. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in Dr. Claire Honeycutt’s Human Mobility Lab studying brainstem contributions to motor planning and later worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on rehabilitation technologies for individuals with paralysis.
During her doctoral training, Joe authored peer-reviewed publications spanning spinal cord organoid biology, lower motor neuron pathology and bioelectronic approaches to nerve regeneration. Her published work includes Human spinal cord organoids: A powerful tool to redefine gray matter and lower motor neuron pathophysiology in spinal cord injury (Neural Regeneration Research) and The Impact of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor rs6265 (Val66Met) Polymorphism on Therapeutic Electrical Stimulation for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration (Muscle & Nerve). Several additional manuscripts are currently under review or planned for submission in early 2026 on topics including integration of multi-scale scaffolds with microfluidics to perfuse the interior of human spinal cord organoids, as well as a precision neurotrauma platform she created to discover new disease targets and treatments.
Joe’s research integrates induced pluripotent stem cell-derived spinal cord organoids, neuroengineering and bioelectronic medicine to advance personalized rehabilitation strategies. Her work reflects the laboratory’s mission to bridge regenerative biology, engineering and precision neurorehabilitation.
We congratulate Joe on this significant milestone and look forward to her continued contributions to rehabilitation science and biomedical engineering. Joe plans to stay on at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for postdoctoral studies and to work as a PT in neurorehabilitation.