I started my scientific career in Washington D.C. at the Catholic University of America, graduating with a bachelors of science in biology with a minor in psychology. During my junior year at CUA, I developed a passion for biomedical research in the laboratory of Dr. John Golin. I spent two full semesters and an NIH-funded summer internship in his lab, studying the multi-drug efflux ABC transporter, PDR5, a protein commonly found in yeast. As a result, I was able to learn and utilize a great deal of molecular genetics and biochemlcal techniques in an independent academic research setting.I worked at Reaction Biology Corporation, a for-profit, full-service contract research organization specializing in early drug discovery research. We used high throughput screening techniques on a large library of kinases and other enzyme classes to directly evaluate and analyze thousands of customer drug compounds worldwide. I held the role of the lab manager of the Mosca Lab in the Department of Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University. In my time there, we studied the gamma secretase protein complex; utilizing fly genetics, immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, and synaptic analysis to further study molecular aspects of synaptic maturation at the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction.I am currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Sciences at University of Massachusetts Medical School, where I am looking to expand my scientific knowledge and learn key aspects of experimental design.