Sleep is an essential physiological state conserved across all well-studied animal species, yet its purpose and regulation are still unknown. To uncover circadian and homeostatic regulatory mechanisms of sleep, many labs have utilized the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model. To uncover novel sleep regulatory mechanisms, I conducted a drug screen to find small molecules that alter sleep behavior in adult flies. I am studying what these drugs can tell us about the genetic, molecular, and circuit-level regulation of sleep behavior.

Neuropsychiatric diseases such as bipolar disorder and scizophrenia are devastating diseases that affect millions of patients. Understanding the genetic and molecular causes of these diseases will help improve treatment, and will also inform us about how the brain functions. In the lab of Dr. Falk Lohoff, we studied an area of the genome containing polymorphisms associated with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. This region contains a gene that is involved in neurotransmission, and we investigated how variants of this gene affect neuronal signaling in cells, in mice, and in human patients.

As a summer intern, I helped design an exhibit about the human body. My responsibilities included researching human body systems, designing mock exhibits and testing them with museum visitors. Close attention was paid to successfully communicating with visitors spanning a full range of ages and scientific literacy.