About Me

I discovered my passion for science in high school and decided to pursue a B.S. in Biochemistry at university. This was despite my parents having no science expertise or interest.

In college I fell in love with research and decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Genetics through a collaborative program between Tufts University’s School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and The Jackson Laboratory.

My dissertation research was done in the laboratory of Dr. Derry Roopenian where I focused on using genetics to understand aspects of immunology. Specifically CD4+ T cells and their role in normal immunity, and how they can contribute to the development of autoimmunity.

Following my defense I did a postdoctoral research fellowship at The MDI Biological Laboratory in the lab of Dr. Dustin Updike. My work was supported during this time by an NIH NRSA F32 Fellowship. My research was focused on understanding how germ granules help maintain cellular pluripotency.

I then became an Assistant Professor and coordinator of the Pre-medicine program where I taught a variety of science classes such as microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, general biology and molecular biology.

I am also a passionate science communicator and have spent much of my free time working to make science accessible and understandable to everyone. Examples of these efforts can be found on instagram or under talks and publications.

This passion for public science communication and education led me to resign from my faculty position to return to MDI Biological Laboratory to spearhead the development of some new science outreach and educational programing.

When I am not working I am a wife, a mother of two, runner, hiker and a reader.