I am a recent college graduate working as a research associate for the Broad Institute in the lab of Dr. Paola Arlotta, professor in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and associate member of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute. I assist in the generation and analysis of long-term cultures of human stem cell derived cerebral organoids and spheroids, which can serve as models for studying human neurological development and the pathology of various neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diseases.
In my previous experience working as an undergraduate student researcher in the lab of Dr. Todd Williams and Dr. Josef Kurtz of the Biology Department at Emmanuel College, I studied the contribution of hematopoietically-derived cells to microglia, the resident macrophage population of the central nervous system, using mixed syngeneic chimeric mice as an experimental model. In addition to completing a written thesis and presenting an oral defense of this work, which allowed me to graduate with Distinction in the Field of Biology in May of 2017, I also had the opportunity to present a poster of this research at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference in November of 2016.
In my future, I aspire to become a pediatric physician-scientist. I have a strong desire to continue to pursue research, and, as a result of my previous and current experiences, I have found that I am especially interested in neuroscience research. However, I am also very passionate about patient care, and have held various work and volunteer experiences in the health care field. My ambition, therefore, is to work towards a career where I can be involved in scientific research that can translate to improving patient care and health outcomes.