Education

Ph.D., Animal Physiology, Clemson University, USA, 2001
B.S., Biological Sciences, Bradley University, USA, 1991

Research Interests

My research interests include immunology, developmental biology and wound healing using chondrichthyan fishes, sharks, rays and chimeras, as model organisms for comparative biology. Current research efforts involve the proteomics and histology of healing acute wounds in elasmobranch fishes. Wound healing is a complex process that balances inflammation with tissue repair and remodeling. When that balance is shifted, a wound may become chronic and fail to heal. Elasmobranchs have exceptional natural healing abilities and we hope to understand the biochemical basis underlying their repair process and compare it to human wound healing models. At DBI my focus is the little skate genome and its public portal skatebase.org. The little skate genome project is part of Delaware INBRE and its goal is to sequence and annotate the skate genome for comparative biomedical research.

Previous Positions

Research scientist, Daemen College Center for Wound Healing, Daemen College, Amherst, NY, USA (2007-present)
Postdoctoral fellow, Aichi Medical University Department of Biology, Aichi, Japan (2003-2005)

Honors & Awards

• American Elasmobranch Society, Secretary (2013-2014)
• Delaware INBRE, Little Skate Genome project, Re-entry supplement, NIGMS, Candidate (2012-2014)
• Novel Compounds from Shark and Stingray Epidermal Mucus with Antimicrobial Activity against Wound Infection, Department of Defense Grant, Co-PI (2011-2014)
• Wound Status Early Outcome Sensor and 3D Construct Development, Department of Defense Grant, Co-PI (2010-2011)
• Burn Fluid and Patient Sera Biochemical Analysis as an Indicator of Aberrant Wound Repair and Hypertrophic Scarring, Department of Defense Grant, Co-PI (2008-2011)
• National Science Foundation and Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship (2004-2005)

Selected Publications

1. Edsberg, Laura E., Jennifer T. Wyffels, Michael Brogan, and Kristin M. Fries. 2012 Analysis of the Proteomic Profile of Chronic Pressure Ulcers. Wound Repair and Regeneration. 20(3):378-401.
2. Edsberg, Laura E., Jennifer T. Wyffels and Daniel Ha. 2011. Longitudinal study of stage III and stage IV pressure ulcer area and perimeter as healing parameters to predict wound closure. Ostomy Wound Management. 57(10):50-62.
3. Wyffels, Jennifer T. and Laura E. Edsberg. 2011. Granulation tissue of chronic pressure ulcers as a predictive indicator of wound closure. Advances in Skin & Wound Care. 24(10):464-473.
4. Wyffels, Jennifer T., Kristin M. Fries, Jason Randall, Daniel Ha, Christa Lodwig, Michael Brogan, Marlene Shero and Laura E. Edsberg. 2010. Analysis of pressure ulcer wound fluid using two-dimensional electrophoresis. International Wound Journal. 7:236-248.
5. Wyffels, Jennifer T. 2009. Embryonic development of chondrichthyan fishes – A review. In: Development of Non-Teleost Fishes, Y. Kunz, B G Kapoor, and C.A. Luer (Eds.), Science Publishers Inc., Enfield, pp. 1-103.
6. Wyffels, Jennifer T., A. B. Bodine, Carl A. Luer and Catherine J. Walsh. 2007. In vivo exposure of clearnose skates, Raja eglanteria, to ionizing X-radiation: Acute effects on the peripheral blood, spleen, and epigonal and Leydig organs. Fish and Shellfish Immunology. 23:401-418.
7. Luer, Carl A., Catherine J. Walsh, Jennifer T. Wyffels and A. B. Bodine. 2007. Normal embryonic development in the clearnose skate, Raja eglanteria, with experimental observations on artificial insemination. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 80:239-255.
8. Wyffels, Jennifer, Motoyasu Masuda, Junichi Sakai and Yoshiaki Itoh. 2006. Characteristics of Scyliorhinus torazame egg case jelly. Journal of the Japanese Society for Elasmobranch Studies. 45:1-7.
9. Wyffels, Jennifer T., A. B. Bodine, Carl A. Luer and Catherine J. Walsh. 2005. In vivo exposure of clearnose skates, Raja eglanteria, to ionizing x-radiation: Acute effects on the thymus. Developmental and Comparative Immunology. 29:315-331.