Baltimore, Maryland, United States
I am a 3rd year Ph.D. Candidate at John Hopkins University in the Cell, Molecular, Development Biology, and Biophysics doctorate program. My work is aimed at quantifying levels of genetic variation within and among species in the nematode genus, Caenorhabditis, and unraveling the evolutionary mechanisms influencing this maintained genetic variation. I am gaining expertise in de novo genome assembly, genome annotation, comparative genomics, and pipeline development. I have interests at the interface of biology, computer science, and mathematics. Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=76OB1pQAAAAJ&hl=en
Ph.D. Candidate in the Erik Andersen Laboratory (https://andersenlab.org). My thesis work is aimed at characterizing genetic variation within and among self-fertilizing species of Caenorhabditis. My work requires the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data (DNA/RNA-seq) where I use scripting languages such as Bash, Python, R, and Nextflow. First year rotations: - Andrew Gordus Laboratory (Computational neuroscience) - Margaret Johnson Laboratory (Computational biophysics, mathematical modeling) - Erik Andersen Laboratory (Computational genomics) - Michael Schatz Laboratory (Soil metagenomics)
Biochemistry Project Lab (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025) Quantitative Biology Bootcamp in Bash, Python, R, and git (September 2025) Genetic Analysis (Fall 2025) Quantitative Biology Lab II & Biophysics (Spring 2026)
I performed computational research studying neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases under the mentorship of Dr. Chih Hung Lo during his post-doctorate work at Yale School of Medicine and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University. My work consisted of analyzing transcriptomic data via bioinformatic technologies and databases to isolate possible genetic biomarkers. Dr. Lo, other undergraduate research partners, and myself met weekly to discuss findings and proceeding steps. Programs and databases used include NCBI, GEO2R, GSEA, DAVID, Cytoscape, STRING, and R.
At Surly Brewing Company, my role as a Porter was to bus tables, run food/beer, help hostess'/servers/cashiers, and emulate Surly's fantastic vibe!
I worked in the Zebrafish Core Facility at the University of Minnesota Medical School in the Department of Neuroscience where I cared for, and fed zebrafish. I was responsible for ensuring the organization and cleanliness of the lab, as well as the water chemistry and health of the zebrafish that were being used in research according to IACUC protocols. Additionally, I was responsible for breeding zebrafish (WT and transgenic) and embryo collection upon request of UMN researchers.
I performed research working alongside Dr. Mark Masino, a neuroscience faculty member at the UMN Medical School. My research involved quantifying the modulatory effects exogenous dopamine has on the fictive swimming patterns of larval zebrafish at varying stages of spinal cord development. Techniques and tools used include electrophysiology, micro-dissection, solution preparation, pClamp, MATLAB, electrode pulling, and breeding of zebrafish and embryo collection. Performed Writing Intensive directed research for UMN credit during Fall 2021 (paper available upon request)
I interned at Harvard's 2022 Summer Systems Biology Internship program where I conducted research in Dr. Timothy Mitchison's Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. Specifically, I worked under mentorship of Dr. Tae Yeon Yoo where I conducted experiments aimed at expanding the understanding of nuclear transport in mammalian cells and the effects that post-translational modifications of nucleoporins have on modulating this transport. Experimental skills and tools I used in this position include fluorescent microscopy (FRAP experiments), mammalian cell culture, molecular cloning and primer design, Python (Image processing), RStudio, ApE, Ilastik, and FIJI (ImageJ). Information on the internship, internship events, as well as myself and accompanying interns: https://www.sysbiointernship.hms.harvard.edu/