While working in the Portnoy Lab at UC Berkeley my research focused on the interactions of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes with the immune system. My research was driven by the goal of improving the safety and efficacy of Listeria-based vaccines.Graduate student instructor for Bio 1A (General Biology) and MCB 150 (Molecular Immunology)Relevant coursework: Science Communication, Communicating Quantitative Information, Microbial Physiology, Microbial Genetics, Genomics and Computational Biology, Microbial Ecology, Cell Structure and Function, Microbial Diversity and Evolution

Through a partnership between the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases and the Alliance for Global Health and Science, I designed and taught a hands-on workshop on tissue culture and pathogenesis research techniques at Makarere University, Kampala, Uganda.

In the Schneider lab, I studied the effect of diet-restriction on the regulation of Drosophila melanogaster immune genes during infection with Listeria monocytogenes.