Experience

• 

  UConn Health

  • United States
  • Hospitals and Health Care
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Assistant Professor

    • Jul 2018 - Present

    My research focuses on translational studies into human aging with a focus on how immune responses and physical function decline as we get older. My unique education and training in both human subject (kinesiology) and basic (immunology) research allows me to understand and design research on multiple levels, from basic benchtop research and preclinical studies to human clinical studies. I believe to tackle many age-associated issues successfully a multifaceted, multisystem-based approach truly is necessary. My multidisciplinary research aims to uncover common pathways among the aging process and to develop potential interventions to prevent age-related declines in immune responses and help older adults maintain their independence into late life.

  • Postdoctoral Fellow

    • Jul 2014 - Jul 2018

    In the lab of Dr. Laura Haynes, an expert immunologist whose research focuses mainly on age-related changes in T cell function, my research primarily focused on how different facets of age-related immune changes impact the response to flu infection. Utilizing a systems-based biology approach, I examined how flu infection predisposes older adults to muscle atrophy and future disability, as well as studied how age-related inflammation impacted flu responses. Most of my work during my postdoc utilized a well-validated murine model of flu infection and aging and various techniques to analyze immune cell responses and overall cellular function.

• 

  University of Connecticut

  • Storrs, CT

  • Research and Teaching Assistant

    • Sep 2009 - Jul 2014
    • Storrs, CT

    During my graduate studies, I lectured in a variety of exercise physiology courses. My research focused on exercise-induced inflammation and muscle repair processes with an interest in exercise protocol variations and nutritional modification.