Profile

During my Behavioral Neuroscience doctoral program, I was trained in models of psychiatric disorders and basic molecular biological methods such as brain tissue preparation, protein labeling, neuron labeling, protein analysis, gene analysis, and gene manipulation. After graduation, I spent a year at the University of Zurich Psychiatric Hospital learning about neuroimaging and the unique intricacies of pre-clinical psychedelic research such as set, setting, dose, medical supervision, and applicable psychometric tools. I am currently learning how to leverage genomics methods in combination with behavior and physiology to better understand and predict developmental psychopathological risk trajectories such as stress physiology, sleep, and cognition in a twin-family design. Through my current project, I am learning developmental psychopathology, biopsychosocial, and next-generation genomics research methods. Moreover, I attend Responsible Conduct of Research trainings, neuroscience talks, and grant writing workshops. I also love teaching people about neuroscience! I teach children all the way up to college students.

I have no typical days! So I will walk you through many different types of days. Sometimes I work from home to concentrate on writing. I like these days because I get to wear my PJs and sit by my big windows. Two days a week I teach a college level course on neuroscience – I love my students! We usually start class off by people sharing the fun things they did over the weekend. There are other days in which I am in a lot of meetings. I meet with other scientists to plan experiments and update each other about the progress of existing projects. Some days I spend all day reading about the most up to date literature about neuroscience, genetics, and behavior.

We run Brain Fairs at Arizona State University for children of all ages. It is a really fun day where they get to learn about the brain by doing a lot of activities. Sometimes, schools want to come but cannot find the money it costs to rent a bus and bring the children. I would use this money to help a school bring the students to Brain Fair.