Biodesign Directory Profile

Bio

I received my Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology in May 2010 from Arizona State University with Summa Cum Laude honors. I also graduate from Barrett, the Honors College in May 2010 with an Honors Thesis titled "Automated Confocal Microscopy Assay: Studying Heterogeneity and Toxic Variability in Neoplastic Progression of Barrett’s Esophagus Cells," directed by Dr. Cody Youngbull and committee members Dr. Robbie Roberson and Dr. Page Baluch.

My undersgraduate research was performed in the Center for Biosignatures Discovery (formerly Center for Ecogenomics) in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. My research encompassed a wide variety of projects, including understanding heterogeneity in responses to exogenous chemicals by confocal microscopy, single cell transcriptomic analysis of stress response and optical and physical micromanipulation methods on single cells.

Currently, I am pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Design at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University with an anticipated graduated date of May 2014. As part of my program I completed three, 10-week lab rotations: in my first rotation I helped to develop and characterize a microfluidic chip for insulated dielectrophoretic separation of cellular lysate in the Bioanalytical Microfluidics lab under Dr. Alexandra Ros; in my second rotation I constructed folding-reporter fusion proteins and developed and characterized a novel microarray platform for natively folded proteins with the African Swine Fever Virus in the Genomes to Vaccines lab in the Center for Innovations in Medicine under Dr. Kathryn Sykes; in my final rotation I began development on a fluorescence and molecular biological toolkit for studying heterogeneity in caspase-1 dependent pyroptotic cell death in the Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation under Dr. Cody Youngbull.

My dissertation research is being done in the Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation, where I am the lead student on a team to develop a novel live, single cell microarray for the purpose of dissecting the metabolic signatures of cells representing a variety of disease states, including cancer and inflammation. Upon completion of the platform, I will continue to apply the platform for understanding the important heterogeneity that occurs in pyroptosis.

Please contact me for an updated CV.

• Heterogeneity in metabolism and its effect on disease onset and progression
• Novel methods and chemicals for applying fluroescence microscopy to understanding disease states
• Host-pathogen interactions and their influence on inflammation
• The role of inflammation in carcinogenesis