Durham, North Carolina, United States
I am an inspirational leader with an exceptional talent for team building and problem solving. My expertise is in bringing out the best qualities of my team and myself by cultivating strong bonds built on trust and clear communication while achieving our shared goals. My strengths in fostering environments centered around mutual respect and kindness have helped me be quite successful. I particularly enjoy environments where I can solve problems and achieve goals with a robust group, although I am fully capable of working independently. I bring unique value to an organization with my inherent strengths for building successful, goal-oriented, and collaborative environments. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral associate in Asiya Gusa’s lab at Duke university. I am proficient in molecular biology, classical microbiology techniques, bioinformatics, protein modeling, and data analysis. For publication information: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6891-3266
As part of the Gusa Lab (https://www.gusalab.com/), my project focuses on creating a fluorescent reporter system to track the mobilization of Cryptococcus retrotransposons in response to different stressors. The lab as a whole seeks to determine how Cryptococcus fungi overcome host barriers to cause fulminant human infection.
5th year Ph.D. candidate in Shonna McBride's Lab as part of the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program at Emory University.
I worked under the mentorship of Dr. Conner Sandefur where I investigated antimicrobial properties of medicinal plants used by the Lumbee people. - Investigated antimicrobial effects of the plant St. Andrew's Cross - Utilized Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion assays - Basic laboratory skills - Asceptic technique
I was a summer researcher part of the BIT-SURE Program at North Carolina State University. - Worked in Dr. Benjamin Reading's lab under the guidance of Dr. Scott Salger - Assayed different bacteria that are found on freshwater and saltwater striped bass - Employed metagenomics to analyze the 16S rRNA from swabs of fish to isolate varying bacteria
Under the mentorship of Dr. Christine Jacobs-Wagner and William Gray I: - Observed Escherichia coli under varied growth conditions throughout its life cycle with fluorescence microscopy. - Analyzed microscopic data with MatLab and Oufti programs with the help of my mentors. - Presented results during the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) hosted by the American Society of Microbiology on November, 3rd 2017 in Pheonix, Arizona.