Biography

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Medicine, Section of Genetic Medicine and the Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology at the University of Chicago, working with Barbara E. Stranger.

Broadly, my research interests encompass understanding the underlying genetic differences in sexually dimorphic disease phenotypes and variable pharmacologic responses between men and women. Trained as a physiologist, studying the role of the tight junction in inflammatory bowel disease, I became interested in clinical pharmacology and pharmacogenomics. To learn how individual’s genetic background can influence response to drugs and to gain computational biology skills, I started working on a project focused on assessing the effect that sexual dimorphism may have on the development of neuropathy in response to anti-cancer treatment. My experience working on a pharmacogenomics projects has encouraged me to pursue further training in statistical genetics and computation biology.

My current project in the Stranger lab and in collaboration with Lea K. Davis at Vanderbilt University focuses on examining the interaction between sex and polygenic risk across neuropsychiatric phenotypes that exhibit sexual dimorphism. Understanding sex-specific differences in development and progression of neuropsychiatric disorders will better allow scientists to develop personalized treatments and therapies.