About me

I am a biomedical scientist focused on neurological and psychiatric disease pathogenesis and therapeutic development. I received my BA and PhD from UC Berkeley with additional research training at the UC San Francisco Memory and Aging Center under the joint mentorship of Dr. Lea Grinberg and Dr. Daniela Kaufer. My training included specialization in neuropathology, epidemiology, comparative neurology, molecular genetics, and cell biology. During my PhD, I focused on pathways underlying the selective vulnerability of neuromodulatory subcortical structures to neurodegenerative diseases and stress disorders. Through my work establishing clinical research programs at UC Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute during graduate school, I became interested in gene and cell therapy applications to neurologic and psychiatric diseases.

Now, I am a faculty member at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center as a Translational Health Fellow with the Innovative Genomics Institute. Here, I am jointly supervised by Dr. Bruce Miller and Dr. Jennifer Doudna. In this role, I continue to study the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders with a focus on identifying and developing targets for cell and gene therapies. I have an additional fellowship with the UC Berkeley Center for Resilience Studies to support efforts to improve outcomes for stress disorders, including early childhood adversity and post-traumatic stress.

Outside of academic research settings, I have served as a scientific consultant in the private sector, focusing on neurodegeneration and genomic medicine. Previously, I've worked with early-stage biomedical companies assessing opportunities for clinical development, assisted venture capital firms in company evaluation, and served on advisory boards for policy activities.