About Me
Hi!
I earned my PhD in the field of Genetics, Genomics, & Development at Cornell University in December 2021. I did my dissertation in the lab of Dr. Ilana Brito, where I studied how the human gut microbiome affects human health and how genetics may play a role in the formation and activity of the gut microbiome. I enjoy developing and applying bioinformatics and statistical tools to address biological questions in novel ways. Since January 2022, I’ve been working as a Computational Biologist at NanoString where I get to work with their cutting edge spatial biology technology and doing spatial data analysis.
Recent News
March 2022
My dissertation work has been published in Scientific Reports!
November 2021
I successfully defended my PhD work!
July 2021
A paper I co-authored with my colleague, Peter Diebold, was published in eLife!
September 2020
I received the news that I’ve been awarded an NIH Research Fellowship to continue my research on genetic determinants of the gut microbiome!
July 2020
My review paper with Dr. Ilana Brito is out in Annual Reviews Microbiology! We review the many benefits of using metagenomic sequencing data, such as greater resolution of species/strains/functions, while also highlighting the challenges to metagenomic data analysis.
November 2019
Along with two other graduate students, I have been working to establish a new organization at Cornell for first-generation and low-income graduate students. This new organization, known as Cornell’s First Generation & Low Income Graduate Student organization, or FiGLI, was officially registered in August. You can see what we are up to by visiting the FiGLI Facebook page here. Excitingly, we have also been featured in various Cornell University news outlets:
Cornell Chronical: New Group Supports First Generation and Low Income Students
Cornell Daily Sun: New Campus Group Seeks To Provide Resources for First-Gen College Students
The Graduate School featured me in a Student Spotlight! In this interview, I discuss my research as well as my involvement in the founding of FiGLI.
April 2019
We recently hosted a Microbiome Hackathon at Cornell. The event was designed to expose students to data science, computational biology, and questions of the microbiome field. To learn more about this fun event, visit our website, or read this great write up about the hackathon in the Cornell Daily Sun!
September 2017
I was honored to be named a Cornell Graduate Dean’s Scholar at the inaugural pinning ceremony.