Undergraduate:
I worked in Dr. Slusarski’s lab for three years in undegraduate school at the University of Iowa studying the interaction between a chromatin remodeling complex and BBS6 a protein associated with Bardet Biedl syndrome and McKusick Kaufman syndrome. The insights gained allowed us to understand the genetic underpinnings of congenital heart disease in molecular level. This started my love for reaserch andd microscopy, especially researching molecular intercatins and how they lead to phenotypes in the developing embryo.
During my last year of undergraduate I joined Dr. Irish’ lab investigating the genetic underlining of meristem growth in zea mays (corn), and the effects of different treatments to accelerate growth early in the plant. I learned a whole new organism and how plant research works!
Lastly after undergrad I worked in Dr. Tootle’s lab, where I dove into the roles of lipid droplets in cell migration and development, through its interaction with actin in drosophila oogenesis. This project helped me get a better grasp on my project and aided my ddevelopment as a scientist—plus a whole new organism drosophila!
Graduate school:
Currently I am a second year PhD student at the University of Colorado Anschutz in Micheal McMurray’s lab studying the mechanisms of translational regulation of cell fate determination in yeast gametes. I am looking forward to all the learning I will get to do and the growth in my development. In the future my goal is to become a professor and have my own lab!
