We are excited to introduce Simone Quartell as the new Department Assistant for the Human Fusions Institute!
When Simone Quartell came to Case Western Reserve University in February 2020 as a Department Assistant in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, one of the first things she noticed was that the most recent news article on the departments website was from July 2019. Immediately, she wanted to change that.
Having earned her B.A. in English at The Ohio State University, Quartell decided to put her background as a citizen journalism reporter for The Heights Observer to work. She began writing about new hires in the department and the accomplishments of students, faculty, and staff, including dissertation defenses, presentations at conferences, awards won and student internships. She also started a department twitter account to increase the department's social media presence.
By the time Quartell transferred to the Office of Research and Technology Management, the news section of the Materials website was thriving, and she was posting at least one news story every week.
Now, as the new Department Assistant in the Human Fusions Institute, Quartell hopes to highlight the accomplishments of HFI team members on the website and social media. “I am so impressed with HFI,” she said. "The lab has made so much progress in the field of prosthetics since (HFI Director Dustin Tyler, PhD) and the team's first sensory interface implant more than a decade ago. In the past, people who lost a limb would completely lose the sense of touch or the ability to grip. Now, they can regain a sense of normalcy in their lives." Quartell was drawn to HFI after seeing Tyler and Associate Professor Bolu Ajiboye talk about their research on 60 Minutes in March 2023. Intrigued, she wanted to learn more about HFI and discovered that Tyler had also met with the President of the United States to discuss ARPA-H legislation. “I was so excited to see research at CWRU highlighted by such high-level platforms,” said Quartell.
In addition to contributing to the HFI website and social media, Quartell will be supporting the administrative needs of HFI and assisting with planning events. She is particularly excited about HFI’s move to the former BioEnterprise building.
When Quartell is not at CWRU, she can be found at Progressive Field cheering on the Cleveland Guardians as a season ticket holder. She also enjoys writing fiction, baking, playing Sudoku and Wordle, and spending time with her family, including her cat, Keri.