Dr. d’Aquino earned her PhD in Biological science from Northwestern University and her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Western Washington University. Her dissertation research focused on studying and engineering the Escherichia coli ribosome’s peptidyltransferase center for the synthesis of abiological polymers.

Prior to her position at InThought, Dr. d’Aquino worked as the Director of Operations for the Northwestern Prison Education Program, and taught college-level biology courses at the state prison as well as Cook County Jail. Subsequently, she served as a Scientist for Stemloop Inc., a startup company in Chicago, where she carried out the research and development for their cell-free biosensors with an emphasis on a pathogen detection platform.