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Jonathan Soucy

Jonathan Soucy

Assistant Professor

Jonathan Soucy is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he leads the Neural Engineering for Restoring Vision (NERV) Lab. His research focuses on understanding how neural circuits between the eye and brain are established, disrupted by disease, and rebuilt through regeneration. His lab combines stem cell engineering, neuroengineering, and electrophysiology to develop human stem cell-derived and ex vivo models of the visual system, with a particular focus on retinal ganglion cell transplantation and functional circuit reconstruction.

Dr. Soucy earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University, where he developed organ-on-chip models of the peripheral nervous system and biomaterials for nerve repair. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, where he studied retinal ganglion cell differentiation and transplantation.

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Contact

  • PhD 2020, Northeastern University
  • BS 2015, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  • Neural engineering
  • Retinal tissue engineering
  • Retinal regeneration
  • Stem cells and retinal organoids
  • Neuronal transplantation
  • Neural circuit repair
  • Neural plasticity
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Electrophysiology
  • Microphysiological systems

  • 2024 Rising Stars in Engineering in Health
  • 2024 RReSTORe Consortium, Emerging Vision Scientist Travel Grant
  • 2022 National Eye Institute Research in Emerging Areas Critical to Human Health, Loan Repayment Program Award
  • 2022 Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Travel Grant
  • 2022 RReSTORe Consortium , Emerging Vision Scientist Travel Grant
  • 2021 ISER/BrightFocus Glaucoma Symposia, Travel Award
  • 2021 Retina Research Foundation/J.M. and E.C. Lawrence, Travel Grant
  • 2020 Northeastern Department of Chemical Engineering, Most First Author Publications Award
  • 2020 American Institute of Chemists, Student Award
  • 2019 Northeastern College of Engineering, 2019 Outstanding Graduate Research Award
  • 2018 Northeastern PhD Network, Travel Grant
  • 2017 Northeastern Graduate Student Government, Conference Award
  • 2017 Boston Biomaterials Day, People’s Choice Best Oral Presentation
  • 2016 Northeastern Graduate Student Government, Conference Award
  • 2013 Rensselaer, Undergraduate Research Program Award
  • 2011 Rensselaer, Medal Scholarship Award

  • Mutschler, A., Malechka, V. V., Bagaev, N., Baranov, P., & Soucy, J. (2025). Optimizing tissue clearing methods for improved imaging of whole-mount retinas and optic nerves. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 110563.
  • Soucy, J., Oswald, J., Kriukov, E., Phay, M., Masland, J., Pernstich, C., & Baranov, P. (2025). Sustained neurotrophic factor co-treatment enhances donor and host retinal ganglion cell survival in mice. Translational Vision Science & Technology, 14(9), 27-27.
  • Kriukov, E., Soucy, J., Labrecque, E., & Baranov, P. (2025). Unraveling the developmental heterogeneity of human retinal ganglion cells within the developing retina to study to the continuity of maturation. Developmental biology.
  • Soucy, J., Malechka, V. V., & Baranov, P. (2024). Retinal Ganglion cell transplantation: differentiation and quantification strategies. In Glaucoma: Methods and Protocols (p. 173-190). Springer US New York, NY.
  • Soucy, J., Todd, L., Kriukov, E., Phay, M., Malechka, V. V., Rivera, J. D., Reh, T. A., & Baranov, P. (2023). Controlling donor and newborn neuron migration and maturation in the eye through microenvironment engineering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(46), e2302089120.
  • Soucy, J., Aguzzi, E. A., Cho, J., Gilhooley, M. J., Keuthan, C., Luo, Z., Monavarfeshani, A., Saleem, M. A., Wang, X., Wohlschlegel, J., & others, (2023). Retinal ganglion cell repopulation for vision restoration in optic neuropathy: a roadmap from the RReSTORe Consortium. Molecular neurodegeneration, 18(1), 64.
  • Soucy, J., Burchett, G., Brady, R., Nichols, K., Breault, D. T., Koppes, A. N., & Koppes, R. A. (2021). Innervated adrenomedullary microphysiological system to model nicotine and opioid exposure. Organs-on-a-Chip, 3, 100009.
  • Vera, D. D., Soucy, J., Lee, A., Koppes, R. A., & Koppes, A. N. (2021). Light irradiation of peripheral nerve cells: Wavelength impacts primary sensory neuron outgrowth in vitro. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 215, 112105.
  • Torregrosa, T., Webster, S., Aghaizu, C., Soucy, J., Bertucci, C., Plant, L., Koppes, A. N., & Koppes, R. A. (2020). Cryopreservation and functional analysis of cardiac autonomic neurons. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 341, 108724.
  • Soucy, J., Askaryan, J., Diaz, D., Koppes, A. N., Annabi, N., & Koppes, R. A. (2020). Glial cells influence cardiac permittivity as evidenced through in vitro and in silico models. Biofabrication, 12(1), 015014.