Experience

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Graduate Student

  • Aug 2016 - Present

  My project broadly focuses on how cancer cells migrate during metastasis. I am particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms and protein machinery that drive actin cytoskeleton dynamics and cell movement. By uncovering the molecular players involved in this pathway, my hope is to highlight new therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. I use a combination of cell biology, molecular biology, and protein biochemistry techniques to conduct hypothesis driven research. My project broadly focuses on how cancer cells migrate during metastasis. I am particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms and protein machinery that drive actin cytoskeleton dynamics and cell movement. By uncovering the molecular players involved in this pathway, my hope is to highlight new therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. I use a combination of cell biology, molecular biology, and protein biochemistry techniques to conduct hypothesis driven research.



Les Mills US (LMUS)

• United States
• Health, Wellness & Fitness
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Group Exercise Instructor

  • Nov 2019 - Present



University of Washington

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Scientist/Engineer I & Lab Manager

  • Jun 2013 - Jun 2016

  Managed graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and undergraduate researchers, assisted in various research projects resulting in 3 co-author publications, conducted independent research, maintained laboratory equipment, and mentored trainees.As a Research Scientist I, I conducted independent research studying the E3 ubiquitin ligase Listerin (Ltn1). Ltn1 is part of the ribosome quality control complex (RQC), which mediates the ubiquitylation and ultimate degradation of ribosome-stalled nascent polypeptide chains. I was interested in how Ltn1 compared to the activity of some of the other well-studied E3s (ie. BRCA1) as well as its interaction with various E2s. I discovered right away that Ltn1 was a highly active RING type E3 of its class. This led me to further investigation of its structural and functional properties. After some troubleshooting, I successfully and independently developed a protein purification protocol specifically for Ltn1. Using this new protocol, I was able to purify Ltn1 mutants of interest that would then be subjected to further biochemical analysis via in vitro ubiquitylation assays and NMR.

• Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • Mar 2012 - Jun 2013

  During my undergraduate studies, I designed and carried out a research project aimed at better understanding a family of proteins called small heat shock proteins (sHPSs). sHPSs are a class of proteins that play a critical role in cellular health by delaying the formation of insoluble aggregates in the cell. Two key sHSP interactions are of interest in the field: how they interact with their clients (aggregate prone proteins) and how they interact with each other to form heterooligomers. Most of our research was aimed at investigating whether sHSPs could exchange their monomer subunits to form heterodimers. Using lysine-based crosslinking, we were able to successfully form and visualize a heterodimer. This was exciting because it suggested an even greater diversity of sHSP oligomer structure and function. At the end of the project, I presented my data at the UW Undergraduate Research Symposium. Shout out to my mentor Dr. Scott Delbecq!