Fun Facts

I’m a native New Yorker, and a recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest. I love to travel, the more exotic and remote the better. I spent a month in Madagascar exploring its unique fauna and flora, and even caught a glimpse of the elusive aye-aye lemur. I have had nearly every type of pet imaginable, and currently share my home with my husband and four cats. As a recovering biochemist, I love to bake. I also love plants, and am always looking to expand my collection.

About Me

In 2002, I graduated from holyoke-college">Mount Holyoke College magna cum laude with High Honors. I majored in Biochemistry with a cumulative GPA of 3.87 (major GPA 3.97), and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. After graduation, I worked as a research assistant and lab manager in the Laboratory of Synthetic Protein Chemistry at The Rockefeller University in New York City. I then matriculated into the graduate program at The Rockefeller University, where I completed my PhD in Developmental Genetics in June 2012. My thesis research focused on a novel developmental cell death, which culminated in a first author publication in the journal Science. I have also published peer-reviewed papers in the field of chemical biology, and conducted research in microbiology, cell biology, and protein chemistry. I hold a Certificate in Clinical and Translational Science from The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science. While in graduate school my interests shifted to more clinically oriented research and medicine.

As an undergraduate, I tutored students in genetics and biochemistry. While in graduate school, I mentored many high school and incoming graduate students. I cotaught the introductory scientific reading and writing course for the Rockefeller University Summer Science Research Program, which taught high school students how to comprehend scientific research articles. I also mentored through the Harlem Children’s Society (HCS), a nonprofit organization that provides high school students from underserved communities in New York City opportunities to conduct research and study science. As a mentor I taught graduate level research skills in genetics and molecular biology to an HCS student four days a week. I also gave a lecture on developmental genetics to over 200 HCS students.

As a child I had a hearing impairment, which caused a delay in my speech and reading-comprehension/washington/seattle">reading comprehension. I am forever grateful to the many washington/washington/seattle">seattle">tutors that I had, who helpe