I apply the evolutionary thinking of the Haag lab to the analysis of transcriptomes and genomes of parasitic nematodes. Specifically, I focus on filarial nematodes that cause neglected tropical diseases such as river blindness. I am interested in the effects of chromosome fusions and endosymbionts on their evolution and biology. Prof. Julie Dunning-Hotopp is my co-advisor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Before UMD, I studied biochemistry at Tufts University, working in a protein biology lab on campus and interning at the NIH along the way. I then spent three years working at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (now a subsidiary of Novo Nordisk) helping in the discovery and development of therapeutics based on RNA interference (a process discovered in C. elegans, by the way). I decided to pursue a graduate degree in order to dive deeper into my interests in computational biology and infectious disease.
I'm active in the BISI and CBBG communities. Outside of grad school, I have a blast performing improv and playing tabletop games.
Before UMD, I studied biochemistry at Tufts University, working in a protein biology lab on campus and interning at the NIH along the way. I then spent three years working at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (now a subsidiary of Novo Nordisk) helping in the discovery and development of therapeutics based on RNA interference (a process discovered in C. elegans, by the way). I decided to pursue a graduate degree in order to dive deeper into my interests in computational biology and infectious disease.
I'm active in the BISI and CBBG communities. Outside of grad school, I have a blast performing improv and playing tabletop games.