I am originally from northern Michigan. I’ve had jobs ranging from driving a tank in the Army, working as a beat cop, a mid-level corporate manager and a lab tech in the oil and gas industry.
After going back to school as a chemistry undergradate, I got my first chance to do research in a bio-inorganic chemistry lab that was focused on developing novel FRET sensors. Before long, I was presented with a paid opportunity to do computational biophysics research at Rice University. This opportunity involved learning how to code, use supercomputers, and develop machine learning tools to predict chromosome structures. These opportunities showed me that graduate-level research was exactly what I wanted to do.
The subsequent decision to come to Baylor College of Medicine was a no-brainer. At BCM, there are several PIs working to make advances in the field I am most passionate about, the field of aging. As a graduate student at BCM, I’ve already had the opportunity to use LC/MS to analyze differences in mouse organ (brain and liver) proteoforms as well as the opportunity to run RNAi screens in C. elegans to identify signaling pathways between lysosomes and the nucleus that could be essential in regulating processes of aging. I am eager to build on these experiences in my effort to learn to develop and execute my research goals.
As a fun fact, I usually play basketball as often as I can but due to COVID-19 I have become more of a gamer.
