Gabrielle Winters Bostwick Ph.D.

Gabrielle Winters Bostwick, Ph.D.

Molecular neuroscientist · Comparative organismal physiologist · Undergraduate educator

Daly City, California · gabrielle.winters@gmail.com · gaberelladeville.github.io · orcid.org/0000-0001-8346-9522

Profile

Molecular neuroscientist and comparative organismal physiologist with a Ph.D. in neuroscience who has served as instructor of record at four institutions, teaching introductory biology, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, anatomy and physiology, and upper-division majors courses. Research on cephalopod nervous systems, from the octopus brain to the peripheral nervous system of the arm, spans molecular, cellular, and whole-organism levels of analysis and is built from projects that undergraduates can own from dissection through publication. Committed to evidence-based, inclusive course design and to settings where research and mentorship are the same activity.

Education

2011–2018
Ph.D. in Medical Science (Neuroscience), University of Florida, Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience. Advisor: Leonid Moroz. Dissertation: Molecular Mapping of the Octopus Brain. Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Science.
2009–2011
M.S. in Biology, Stem Cell Technology, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Graduated with distinction, GPA 3.93. CIRM intern, The Scripps Research Institute: induced pluripotent stem cell culture and iPSC-derived neuronal differentiation. Advisor: Nikki Adams.
2003–2007
B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis.

Teaching experience

2026–
Instructor of Record, Neuroscience Concentration Curriculum. Oregon State University Ecampus, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Full-time neuroscience teaching faculty at the rank of Instructor; asynchronous online instruction for a national and nontraditional student population. Fall 2026: BB 314 Cell and Molecular Biology; BB 450 General Biochemistry.
2023, 2026
Lecturer, Instructor of Record. San Francisco State University. Fall 2026: Conservation Biology; Advances in Physiology (graduate seminar); Advising for Success in the Biology Major (BIOL 231), with UNC's Project READY curriculum. 2023: Molecular Genetics (BIOL 357), an upper-division majors course with authentic datasets, gene-editing case studies, and student-designed experiments. Universal Design for Learning applied throughout.
2019–2020
Instructor of Record, Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II. Daytona State College. Gateway health-science courses with multimodal assessment supporting neurodiverse and multilingual learners.
2019–2020
Instructor of Record, Environmental Science (NAS 107) and General Biology (BIO 111). Flagler College. Field-based biodiversity sampling, sustainability assessments, and ecotours for non-majors.
2012
Graduate Instructor, Marine Genomics and Developmental Biology. Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington / University of Florida.
2009–2010
Teaching Associate, Introductory Biology Laboratory. California Polytechnic State University. Inquiry-based laboratory sections.

Prepared to teach

Introductory cell and molecular biology; introductory organismal biology; general biology; environmental science; evolution; human anatomy and physiology; genetics; cell biology; neurobiology with laboratory; comparative and animal physiology; environmental physiology; invertebrate biology; biochemistry; molecular genetics; genomics and bioinformatics; evolution of nervous systems; undergraduate and honors research; course-embedded research experiences in comparative neurobiology; an advanced laboratory in comparative circuit physiology.

Research and professional experience

Summer 2026
Kavli-Grass Fellow, Independent Research Fellowship. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole. Competitively awarded; designed and ran a self-directed project independent of doctoral or postdoctoral supervision, with full access to marine animal facilities and imaging cores.
2022–2026
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Crook Lab. San Francisco State University. Established transcriptomics and hybridization chain reaction approaches in a physiology-focused lab; produced the first molecular characterization of octopus arm neural circuits (Current Biology, 2024); developed calcium imaging pipelines capturing population-level activity in the intact arm (iScience, 2026); mentored M.S. and undergraduate students.
2020–
Director of Scientific Operations, Ocean Genome Atlas Project. UN Decade of the Oceans-designated initiative mapping global marine biodiversity at single-cell resolution. Oversee scientific strategy and operations for an international program deploying mobile genomic labs aboard sailing research vessels; coordinate research across international taxonomic teams; lead grant development and institutional partnerships.
2020–2022
Lab Operations Manager and Cell Engineer, Octant Bio. Emeryville, California. Managed facilities operations for all company laboratories and led a major laboratory buildout; mammalian cell culture (HEK293, fibroblasts) and reporter expression in human cell lines; NGS library construction and sequencing platform development.
2011–2018
Doctoral Researcher, Moroz Lab. University of Florida, Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience. Molecular diversity in molluscan memory centers using single-cell sequencing, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry; electrophysiology and molecular mapping of identified Aplysia neurons.
2008–2009
Volunteer Research Assistant. Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University.

Undergraduate research mentorship and advising

  • Mentor, Crook Lab, San Francisco State University, 2022–present. Trained M.S. and undergraduate students in molecular biology, microscopy, image quantification, and scientific communication; mentees are co-authors on two publications.
  • Mentor, Moroz Lab NSF REU cohorts and summer trainees, University of Florida, 2013–2018. Designed projects sized to a ten-week residency; mentee Rayanna Laux won the NSF REU Poster Presentation Award (2015). Led bioethics courses and symposium lab workshops for REU cohorts.
  • M.S. thesis committee member, San Francisco State University, 2022–present.
  • Academic advising: instructor of record for BIOL 231, San Francisco State University's major-advising course.

Curriculum development and online instruction

  • Developed course-embedded undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and modular lab units linking foundational concepts to advanced neuroscience topics.
  • Designed online-ready materials including mixed-media content, asynchronous discussion protocols, and reflective assessments, since carried back into in-person courses.
  • Delivering Oregon State University Ecampus courses in cell and molecular biology and biochemistry in fully asynchronous format.
  • Integrating primary literature and bioinformatics into undergraduate coursework through BREWMOR and CEETL professional development.
  • Developed K–12 and adult learner outreach curricula in biodiversity, genetics, and marine science (University of Florida / SeaKeepers collaboration, 2013–2018).

Professional development in teaching

  • UNC Project READY: Reimagining Equity and Access for Diverse Youth; completed and taught as instructor of record for BIOL 231, 2026
  • Teaching Writing: Meeting the Moment, SFSU CEETL, 2025
  • BREWMOR: Data-Driven Student Assessment and Reflection in Undergraduate Research, 2025
  • MicroBREW: Assessment of Undergraduate Experiential Learning in Biology Labs, 2025
  • BREWMOR: Integrating Bioinformatics into the Undergraduate Classroom, 2024
  • BigBREW: Integrating Primary Literature into the Undergraduate Classroom, 2023
  • Advancing Learning Webinar: Moving Instruction Online, 2020

Technical expertise

Functional and cellular physiology
Calcium imaging (population and single-cell); confocal, two-photon, and live-cell microscopy; neural tissue dissection and slice physiology; neurotransmitter pharmacology; electrophysiology of identified neurons.
Molecular biology
RNA/DNA extraction and NGS library construction; in situ hybridization and multiplex HCR; immunohistochemistry; single-cell and single-nucleus transcriptomics; molecular cloning.
Cell culture
Mammalian cell culture (HEK293, fibroblasts) and reporter expression in human cell lines; induced pluripotent stem cell culture and iPSC-derived neuronal differentiation (CIRM internship, The Scripps Research Institute).
Genomics and computation
Bulk and single-cell RNA-seq analysis; de novo transcriptome assembly; comparative gene expression analysis; custom Python pipelines for calcium imaging and image quantification.
Pedagogy
Active learning; Universal Design for Learning; online course design; scaffolded assessment; bioinformatics integration; mentorship of diverse learners.

Peer-reviewed publications and preprints

  1. Winters-Bostwick GC, Bostwick CJ, Crook RJ. Neurochemical control of decentralized octopus arm circuitry. iScience. In press, accepted 2026. Preprint: bioRxiv 2025, doi:10.1101/2025.11.29.691307.
  2. Benedict J, Engelman M, Klos M, Crook RJ, Winters-Bostwick GC. Molecular and ultrastructural characterization of the intramuscular nerve cords of the octopus arm. bioRxiv, 10 June 2026, doi:10.64898/2026.06.06.730610. In revision, Journal of Comparative Neurology.
  3. Winters-Bostwick GC, Giancola-Detmering SE, Bostwick CJ, Crook RJ. Three-dimensional molecular atlas highlights spatial and neurochemical complexity in the axial nerve cord of octopus arms. Current Biology. 2024;34(20):4756–4766. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.049.
  4. Deutsch S, Parsons R, et al., Winters-Bostwick G, Crook RJ. Evaluation of candidates for systemic analgesia and general anesthesia in the emerging model cephalopod, Euprymna berryi. Biology (Basel). 2023;12(2):201. doi:10.3390/biology12020201.
  5. Stern-Mentch N, Winters Bostwick G, Belenky M, Moroz L, Hochner B. Neurotransmission and neuromodulation systems in the learning and memory network of Octopus vulgaris. Journal of Morphology. 2022;283(5):557–584. doi:10.1002/jmor.21459.
  6. Winters GC, Polese G, Di Cosmo A, Moroz LL. Mapping of neuropeptide Y expression in Octopus brains. Journal of Morphology. 2020;281(7):790–801. doi:10.1002/jmor.21141.
  7. Yoshida MA, et al., Winters GC, Kohn AB, Moroz LL. Molecular evidence for convergence and parallelism in evolution of complex brains of cephalopod molluscs. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 2015;55(6):1070–1083. doi:10.1093/icb/icv049.

Selected presentations

  • Molecular and Functional Mapping of the Octopus Arm Nervous System. Invited speaker, CephNeuro Conference, Galveston, TX, February 2026.
  • Three-Dimensional Molecular Atlas of Octopus Arm Neuroanatomy. Oral presentation, CephNeuro Conference, Woods Hole, MA, April 2024.
  • Cephalopod Transcriptomes Unravel Details of Complex Nervous System Evolution. Oral presentation, SICB Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, January 2018.
  • Cephalopod Neurogenomics: Insights into the Evolution of Complex Brains. Invited speaker, TONMOCON VI, Sarasota, FL, October 2015.
  • Cephalopod Transcriptomes Unravel Details About Centralized Brain Evolution. Invited speaker, Monterey Bay Aquarium, April 2014.

Grants, awards, and fellowships

  • Kavli Science and Society Sparks Program, The Kavli Foundation, 2026
  • Kavli-Grass Fellow, Marine Biological Laboratory, independent research fellowship, 2026
  • Grinter Fellowship, University of Florida, 2011–2014
  • Alumni Fellowship, University of Florida, 2011–2015
  • Poster Awards, Florida Genetics Meeting (Honorable Mention; Third Place), 2014, 2015
  • NSF REU Poster Presentation Award (student mentee Rayanna Laux), 2015

Service and outreach

  • Selected participant, Kavli Science and Society Sparks Program, training in public engagement and science–society communication, November–December 2026
  • President, Whitney Laboratory Graduate Student Association, University of Florida, 2013–2016
  • Developed and taught K–12 and adult learner outreach curricula in biodiversity, genetics, and marine science (University of Florida / SeaKeepers collaboration, 2013–2018)
  • Volunteer Research Assistant, Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station, 2008–2009

References available upon request.