Biography
Education
- Ph D in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University
- BA in Latin American and Iberian Studies, University of Richmond
- BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Richmond
I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond in RIchmond, VA, where I earned a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a BA in Latin American and Iberian Studies in 2009. While there, I also carried out research in the lab of Dr. Michelle Hamm, studying the biochemical mechanisms of mutagenesis by DNA polymerases when copying oxidatively damaged DNA. Upon graduation, I joined the lab of Dr. Joel Meyer at Duke University in Durham, NC, as a research technician and soon after took over as lab manager. While there, I trained and supervised seven undergraduate researchers and one masters student researcher in activities from basic lab skills through independent research projects, as well as carrying out my own biochemical research project to establish the kinetics of mitochondrial DNA polymerase bypass of UV damaged template DNA in collaboration with Dr. William Copeland’s lab at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In 2011, I began my graduate studies at Cornell University, joining the lab of Dr. Chris Fromme in 2012, where my research focused on the molecular mechanisms regulating Golgi membrane trafficking. After earning my PhD in Biochemistry with concentrations in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2017, I returned to Dr. Copeland’s lab for postdoctoral research focused on the biochemical mechanisms underlying human diseases caused by dysfunction of mitochondrial DNA replication. In 2023, I joined the chemistry faculty at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, where my teaching focused on biochemistry and general chemistry, and I initiated my own research program centered on uncovering the molecular decision-making processes that regulate mitochondrial DNA replication, mentoring four undergraduate researchers in independent research projects. I joined the BCES faculty at CNU in 2025, where I continue to center my teaching on biochemistry and have expanded into microbiology and organic chemistry and have continued my research program, recruiting ten undergraduate research students to work on two teams in the lab focused on the protein biochemistry and cell and molecular biology aspects of our research questions.
Teaching
My primary teaching area is biochemistry, both in the classroom and the teaching lab. I also teach within the chemistry intro sequence in general chemistry and organic chemistry labs, as well as in the range of cell and molecular biology, most recently microbiology.
Research
My research focuses on the protein-protein interactions that mediate molecular decision-making to regulate mitochondrial DNA replication, employing techniques in protein biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and structural biology and molecular modeling.