My research projects in the Nemhauser Lab focused on characterizing how ubiquitin E3 ligase:substrate interactions determine the dynamics of substrate turnover in plant hormone signaling pathways. In collaboration with the Klavins Lab and the Zheng Lab at UW, I am utilized approaches from synthetic biology, structural biology, biochemistry, and developmental biology to develop a more complete understanding of how degradation dynamics are encoded within E3:substrate complexes, and how degradation rates set the pace for signaling networks. Additionally, I explored the use of hormone-induced protein degradation systems for applications in synthetic biology and in broader cell and organismal biology.

I earned a PhD degree in Molecular Cell Biology from the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences. I worked in the laboratory of Dr. David Piwnica-Worms at the Molecular Imaging Center/BRIGHT Institute where my thesis research focused on utilizing bioluminescence imaging tools to probe the real-time dynamics of NF-kB pathway signaling in vitro and in vivo.

I was hired to continue work that I had started while an undergraduate in the Starkey Lab. I worked in collaboration with researchers from Rasiris Inc. (now SensoPath Technologies) to investigate the efficacy of a new two-photon agent for photodynamic therapy for solid tumors. I was involved in the development of bioluminescent tumor cell lines, mammalian tissue culture, confocal microscopy, care and use of laboratory animals, in vivo imaging, and development of human breast tissue phantoms. I presented a poster about this work at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in 2005.

I worked on two different research projects: one focused on understanding mechanisms regulating tumor angiogenesis and the other testing novel photodynamic therapy agents to treat breast tumors.