About Me

I grew up in beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan where I became interested in science and public health. I attended University of Pittsburgh on a full scholarship and earned a Bachelor's of Science in Microbiology while participating on the Triathlon Team and conducting research in transgender youth health, type I diabetes, and mitochondrial replacement therapies. During my Senior year, I became interested in epigenetics and its role in environmental and multigenerational influences on health and disease. To pursue this research, I joined the lab of Dr. Janine LaSalle as a PhD student in the Integrative Genetics and Genomics Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis. I work on identifying patterns of DNA methylation in newborn blood and placenta that are unique to individuals with Autism spectrum disorders or Down Syndrome and associated with environmental exposures and social factors in the parents and grandparents. I am passionate about epigenetics, environmental health sciences, and perinatal origins of disparities.

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, kayaking, and biking as well as cooking and playing the ukulele very poorly.