This article appeared in Catalyst Magazine, Spring 2026
Jaquesta Adams is a Chemistry Ph.D. candidate in Professor Markita Landry's lab at UC Berkeley. Born in Miami, Florida, she received a B.S. in Chemistry with minors in Biology and Mathematics from Howard University before switching coasts for her graduate studies. Jaquesta's research focuses on developing near-infrared fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotube sensors for high spatiotemporal resolution neurochemical imaging.
Equally passionate about research and outreach, Jaquesta has co-coordinated UC Berkeley's Getting into Graduate School program, a year-long curriculum to foster undergraduate interest in and readiness for graduate study. Her graduate work has been supported by the HHMI Gilliam Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and the UC Berkeley Chancellor's Fellowship.
What was the first research setback that made you realize science is more about grit than "eureka" moments, and how did you handle it?
When I started research as an undergraduate, I had such an idealized vision of what it looked like to perform science. I was a rising sophomore at Howard University at the time, and I genuinely thought the project I'd been tasked with—synthesizing and characterizing polymer-encapsulated silver chloride nanoparticles—sounded so straightforward it would only take a fraction of my ten-week summer program to accomplish. Instead, ten weeks later, we were still validating the polymer encapsulation! Still, at the end-of-summer symposium, I realized I was so excited to just present on what I'd done and how the project could move forward that the lack of a "eureka" moment didn't even register to me as a problem.
I've experienced plenty more setbacks since then, especially in my graduate research. Sometimes you're waiting for a reagent to be delivered, equipment to be fixed, or a collaboration to be solidified for a project to advance. In those cases, there's not much to do but wait and work on what's immediately in your power. Most often, though, you're trying to troubleshoot a seemingly direct protocol or understand an unanticipated result. In those situations, I remind myself research is a marathon, not a sprint, and though you may begin a project with an ostensibly simple objective, real science is messy. Instead of purely aiming to achieve an ideal outcome, I'm much more fascinated by understanding the mechanisms underlying empirical observations. There may be fewer "eureka" moments that way, but the journey to discovery is much more fulfilling!
Beyond the specific experiments you're running, how does your work move the needle on a major challenge in your field? What's the specific gap you're trying to bridge?
Our higher-order behavior arises from the coordination of billions of neurons. These cells predominantly communicate across synapses, the small gaps that separate them, via chemical signaling. Therefore, by probing the dynamics of chemical release across developmental stages and disease states, we can gain a better understanding of the precise role neurochemical signaling plays in physiology and pathophysiology. Historically, analytical methods for studying neurochemistry have required trade-offs between temporal and spatial resolution. In essence, no technique could capture both rapid release dynamics and a single-synapse snapshot of release, limiting our understanding of how neurochemical communication changes during development and disease progression.
My graduate research focuses on developing high spatiotemporal resolution nanoscale tools to visualize key neurochemicals, such as oxytocin, using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). With my collaborators, I've employed high-throughput selection and machine learning to devise oxytocin nanosensors now being used to study peer relationships in prairie voles. I aim to bridge the gap between neurochemical signaling and brain function by developing the tools capable of observing these chemical messengers in real time.
What emerging technology or methodology in this field are you most eager to master, and how do you think it will change the way we do research in the next five years?
There are so many! My research has primarily focused on developing synthetic ssDNA-SWCNT sensors for neurochemical imaging, so I'll focus here on advances in carbon nanotube sensor development.
Semiconducting carbon nanotubes exhibit unique optical properties, including near-infrared fluorescence with excitation and emission wavelengths that vary depending on their electronic structures. Individual carbon nanotubes species are known as chiralities, and the fluorescence modulation we leverage for sensing is based on a number of factors, including the surface chemistry of the nanotube and the subset of SWCNT chiralities in a given sample.
A graphical depiction of near-infrared fluorescent nanosensors immobilized on a glass dish and washed with oxytocin.
Since starting my Ph.D., both chirality separation and fine chemical tuning of the SWCNT surface, including ordered DNA wrapping and quantum defect chemistry, have developed substantially. I find these advancements so fascinating because achieving greater control and homogeneity in sensor fabrication will be integral to developing more sensitive, selective, and reproducible sensors.
I'm incredibly eager to master recent strategies for high-purity nanotube separation and controlled surface chemistry of carbon nanotube sensors to apply them to biological imaging.