About Me

I was raised in Alvaton, KY with budding interests in science, music, and sports. I spent the majority of my time studying, working part-time at Best Buy, playing piano/clarinet, volunteering in hospitals, or playing softball/running track/horseback riding. I am the middle child of three, with an older sister and a younger brother. Luckily for me, I was surrounded by people who challenged me to be the best I could be.

When it came to higher education, I had no real plan other than that I liked science and figured the pre-med track was a good place to start. For my efforts in Javelin, I was recruited by the Centre College Track Team in Danville, KY. At the time, I held the high school state record but knew this was, more importantly, an opportunity for my education. While at Centre, I followed a science-focused course load, planning for medical school, but eventually swayed towards a graduate career in academia. My undergraduate research experience in organic chemistry had me in a chokehold.

With the help of my undergraduate research advisor, I was encouraged to pursue a Master's degree. A career in academia wasn't necessarily my end goal but I was positive I loved research. By immersing myself in graduate work, I hoped to explore whether this career track was a good fit. I spent two years in Philadelphia at Villanova University studying Biochemistry. I loved it so much that I decided to keep going down this track and apply for PhD programs. I was feeding on the idea of being at the edge of knowledge and answering the unknown. 

Staying in Pennsylvania, I accepted an offer from Carnegie Mellon University. I planned to continue utilizing my expertise in using yeast models to study biochemical reactions. However, after taking my first Neuroscience course, I once again changed direction and decided to take a rotation in a Neurobiology lab studying the basal ganglia. 

After completing my doctorate, I took a few months off to mentally recover and figure out my next move. Even though I had no intention of staying in academia, I can't seem to leave it. I ended up taking a position as a postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh. As is tradition, though, I switched fields of study. To gain more skills in this growing world of AI, I am currently learning how to utilize machine learning and bioinformatics to study the inner workings of immunology. 

I have changed my field of study several times, but never once regretted it. It it isn't clear, I like to try as many different things as possible. Because of these choices, I now have a vast background in biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, and immunology. Most importantly, my passion for understanding the world around us has stayed ever present. The four-year-old kid in me never stopped asking "Why?" and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon.