Main Content

Biosketch

 My research experience began with the Chancellor's Aides scholarship student worker position under Dr. James Moroney while I worked to earn my bachelor’s degree with dual emphasis in microbiology and biochemistry at Louisiana State University. Our lab studied Chlamydomonas rheinhardtii, and with then postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Sergio Colombo, we generated numerous insertional deletion mutants looking for genes involved in carbon fixation. I received research and academic awards during my undergraduate years.

As a graduate assistant, I investigated developing a protein-based vaccine strategy for invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae with Dr.  Larry McDaniel. I analyzed a previously uncharacterized protein, PcsB, as a potential vaccine candidate for S. pneumoniae. We found  that intramuscular and intranasal vaccination provided protection against intravenous challenge of mice. I gained experience in an array of molecular techniques, cloning, characterization of proteins and immunization and challenge of mice.

After completion of my Ph.D in 2009, my family and I moved to Peru to pursue our passion for helping the under-served through work with a non-profit organization, Peru Mission. While in Peru, I dedicated my time to various philanthropic activities and my family.

 In 2023, we made the difficult decision to leave the work in Peru and return to the US. For me, this was an ideal opportunity to pursue my passion in science and recommence my career in research. My doctoral studies got me interested in the immune response, and I was excited to join Dr. Joshua Speed's research team, which has allowed me to expand my knowledge to inflammatory processes associated with obesity and metabolic disease in vertebrates. Specifically, we are using various tissue specific knockout mice to test the hypothesis that endothelin-1 mediates inflammatory immune cell infiltration into adipose tissue of obese mice leading to adipocyte dysfunction. Through the training plan and proposals developed by Dr. Speed and myself, I will gain knowledge in physiological systems, develop mentoring skills through advising summer undergraduate researchers, advance oral and written communication skills, and master new research techniques to increase the potential of reaching my long-term goal of becoming an independent researcher. The environment at UMMC and within the Physiology and Biophysics department gives me access to integral core facilities, such as flow cytometry and cell sorting, proteomics, and high-throughput sequencing that I will utilize during my fellowship. Resources are available for me to learn aspects of cutting-edge techniques from sample process through data analysis and interpretation. After a significant absence from science and joining Dr. Speed's lab, my long-term goal to become an independent researcher was quickly rekindled. I have realized how much I had missed brainstorming, planning experiments, and testing hypotheses through hands-on science. Additionally, I have become passionate about mentoring, connecting people and encouraging peers.  I want to understand the mechanisms at work in diabetes and obesity and do meaningful and impactful work in translational science that will help people with metabolic disease, especially in populations that have been underrepresented in many scientific studies. I am excited to pursue my goal of becoming a productive independent researcher and contribute to biomedical science and the field of physiology.