I am a graduate student in the Pharmacology curriculum at UNC Chapel Hill. Prior to UNC, I earned B.S degrees in Exercise Science and Biochemistry from SUNY Brockport. Upon graduating, I worked as a Research Assistant in the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Engle at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. There, our work focused on investigating the genetic etiology of congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders – a class of rare Mendelian disorders affecting development of the motor neurons that innervate the muscles controlling eye and facial movements. My project focused on generating epigenomic and transcriptomic atlases for the developing cranial motor neurons (in mouse) to prioritize mutations found within whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing data, and to define key regulators of normal and abnormal motor neuron development.
In the Milner lab, my focus is on leveraging genomics and genome-editing techniques to improve T-cell function in cancer and chronic infection. Outside of lab I enjoy spending time with my dog, Millie.
