About Me

Growing up in Detroit, there was little discussion on STEM careers outside of medicine and no one ever mentioned “scientist” as a possibility for young girls interested in the field. When I started college, I thought that becoming a medical doctor or an engineer were my only options. To fulfill a degree requirement, I spent two semesters working in a virology lab where I absolutely fell in love with biomedical research. I was amazed to learn of the complex pathways governing viral infections and how studying these host-pathogen interactions has the potential to clarify fundamental mechanisms of virology in addition to cancer and cell biology. Still, it wasn’t until my final semester of college that I learned about graduate school or considered that I could “do science” as a career. I soon pivoted from attending medical school to applying for Ph.D. programs in the biomedical sciences. 

After a few winding turns, I entered a doctoral program at Northwestern University and earned my Ph.D. in Microbiology-Immunology. Upon completion of my post-doctoral training, I accepted a tenure-track faculty position at the University of Michigan where I launched my independent research program in 2022. My lab uses a combination of biochemical, cell biological and high-resolution imaging approaches to investigate the host-pathogen interactions required for cancer-causing and cancer-treating viruses to infect cells. Finally achieving my goal of running a virology research lab has allowed me to not only pursue my passion for scientific discovery, but to encourage others to also consider careers in biomedical research. It's a dream come true!