ABOUT ME
EDUCATION
RESEARCH INTERESTS
The Baxter Lab
I am currently a research technician working on Theobroma cacao genetics under Dr. Juan Carlos Motamayor. My role in the lab is to study expression of genes related to self incompatibility in T. cacao and other closely related species. While working for the Mars Plant Science Lab, I've had the opportunity to work both in the field and greenhouses, doing pollination crosses and grafting, while gaining experience in the lab with several genetic techniques like cloning, primer design and qPCR.
Throughout completing my BS in Biology at Florida International University, I worked as an undergraduate researcher investigating the evolutionary relationship between rhizobial bacteria and legumes (e.g. pigeon pea and chickpea), with particular considerations on human health and nutrition in developing countries (e.g. Ethiopia and Turkey). Our team studied the effects of various nitrogen concentrations on both wild and cultivated chickpea leaf morphology and root architecture. My research on legumes and their symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia led to a deep appreciation on the importance of microbial-host interactions.
I am currently applying to PhD programs to begin Fall of 2018. I am most passionate about understanding how gut microbiota interact with the human genome and alter expression related to immunity and metabolism. I am excited to grow as a scientist so that I can push the boundaries of what is known about the microbiome using tools in genetics, microbiology, and bioinformatics.
When I'm not in lab working on cacao, I can be found either: reading-up on the latest microbiome research (and consequently trying to incorporate more fiber into my diet), watching Netflix/Hulu, painting with watercolors, lifting weights, baking, and exploring Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden or supporting local businesses by eating their food with friends and family.
Hobbies
Florida International Univeristy
B.S in Biology, 2016
Minor in Chemistry, 2016
Human Microbiome
The human microbiome holds indefinite potentional for the future of personalized healthcare and a reduced need of antibiotics. I am excited to learn more about how the manipulation of microbes can affect obesity, immune system regulation, behavior, and other indirectly related factors like sustainable agricultural and efficient nutrient uptake of major crops.
Genomics & Proteomics
Under the guidance of Dr. Jessica Siltberg-Liberles, I studied single nucleotide polymorphisms that lead to a heterodimer in a plant albumin protein in some lines of chickpeas that causes hemuggutination in select populations. Using BLAST, I built phylogenetic trees of closely related legumes and beans and found this ploymorphism to be unique to chickpeas. I further studied the protein structure using PyMOL in order to observe the difference between ancestoral/normal plant abumins and those that cause hemagglutination. Understanding how this protein mutated is critical to increasing efficiency of agricultural production for such an important crop like chickpea.
Generating Pipelines Using Bioinformatic Tools
I interned at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in the Baxter Lab where they use bioinformatics to study the ionome of various genetic populations grown in different environments. My time there, and as a student of Dr. Liberles, has led to a deeper appreciation for the importance of computational biology in eliminating the bioinformatic bottleneck we see in so many fields today, including in the study of the microbiome. I am very much interested in the development of new computational tools that will allow scientists to most efficiently analyze genome sequences.
Nutrition
I'm very interested in how our diet affects the microbial diversity in our gut, and what this means for the future of personalized healthcare. During my time at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center with the Baxter Lab, I was particularly interested in identifying lines with higher concentrations of ions important to human nutrition like Potassium, Calcium, and Iron. We compared the variation in concentrations (in ppb) of 20 inorganic ions in response to environmental stressors related to soil pH in both wild and cultivated lines of chickpea using Inductively Coupled-Mass Spectrometry.
