A scientist working where research meets patients
I’m a Research Associate in the rotational program at Umoja Biopharma and a 2025 University of Michigan graduate in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. My path has run from veterinary clinics to research labs to biotech, and the thread through all of it is translation: turning careful science into better outcomes for patients.
Now
Umoja Biopharma, since October 2025
At Umoja in Louisville, outside Denver, I’m rotating through development, process sciences and manufacturing at a company building in vivo CAR T cell therapies, which reprogram a patient’s own T cells inside the body to find and eliminate cancer cells. I’m most interested in the interfaces, where data, constraints, patient realities and operational decisions meet.
Research
Disease ecology and antimicrobial resistance
- Duffy Lab, University of Michigan (2021–2025): studies of epidemiology, virulence and aquatic ecology, including how a warming climate may change disease dynamics. This work led to five peer-reviewed publications in mBio, Ecology and Evolution, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and Parasitology.
- Honors thesis: Antibiotic Resistance of Daphnia Microbiomes Across Different Catchment Types, comparing antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments near urban and farm catchments using PCR, ddPCR, Gram staining, agar plating and microscopy. Presented at the U-M Program in Biology & Neuroscience Undergraduate Poster Session in April 2025, and nominated for the 2025 Willie Hobbs Moore Achievement Award by U-M’s Women in Science and Engineering program.
- Hite Lab, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2024): ddPCR, resistance-gene PCR and statistical analysis in R to validate thesis findings, plus research on how manure fertilizer affects antimicrobial resistance in crops (DNA extraction, Salmonella and E. coli isolation, metagenomics).
- Graham Lab, Brighton, England (2022): field research on a botulism outbreak in urban herring gulls and on food-stealing behavior, with material for a public education site.
Clinical and industry experience
Close to patients, from the clinic to the OR
- Abbott Neuromodulation, Phoenix (2025): followed the full patient journey for dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord stimulation therapies, from first consultation through device implantation in the OR to post-operative care.
- LOAR PLLC, Austin (2025): legal assistant supporting attorneys with caseload review, consolidating findings, administration and event coordination.
- Veterinary medicine (2019–2023): veterinary technician at Windhaven Veterinary Hospital in Plano (vaccinations, diagnostics, radiography, anesthesia monitoring and surgical assistance), and veterinary assistant roles in equine surgery, emergency and general practice, including a veterinary assistant certification.
Education
University of Michigan
B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, 2025, with honors thesis research in the Duffy Lab.
Skills
At the bench and beyond it
- Molecular and microbiology: PCR, ddPCR, DNA extraction, metagenomics, bacterial culture and isolation, Gram staining, microscopy
- Data: statistical analysis in R, literature review, reproducible protocols and documentation
- Clinical: patient care, diagnostic testing, radiography, anesthesia monitoring, sterile technique
How I work
- Rigor: clean methods, reproducible analysis, clear documentation
- Curiosity: asking better questions, not just getting faster answers
- Translation: communicating across teams and audiences
- Service: staying grounded in real people and real communities
Outside the lab, travel and service help me see problems differently. Life & Travel →