About me

I am currently a PhD candidate and NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2023 recipient) in Dr. Sarah Woodley's lab at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Before graduate school, I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Slippery Rock University (2020). I then worked as a Research Technician in the Ghosh Lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Cleveland Clinic (2020-2022) and in the Alcorn Lab in the Department of Pulmonology at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (2022-2023).

For my dissertation research, I am studying the effects of the gut microbiome on immune function in tadpoles. Many of the studies that have taught us about the amphibian immune response at the molecular level were performed in the laboratory, an environment that is devoid of the diverse collection of microbes present in nature. How would a more naturally-derived microbiome change what we already know about the amphibian immune response? I'm hoping to find out!

I attended this course from April 7 - 21, 2026 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to learn all things Xenopus! This was such a wonderful experience that allowed me to grow my Xenopus network and to be exposed to and practice techniques in the lab, including microinjections, tissue transplants, live-cell time-lapse imaging, immunofluorescence staining, and more! If you ever want to talk Xenopus, feel free to reach out!