I joined Galit Lahav’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher in the systems biology department at Harvard Medical School in September 2021. My research uses computational methods to understand the connection between single cell p53 protein dynamics and transcriptomic profiles in cell fate decisions.
As a PhD student in the University of Pittsburgh’s chemical and petroleum engineering program, I was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as a Gilliam Fellow. My work can be divided into two computational areas that address both influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 infection: antiviral drug target identification using network biology and dynamic modeling of the immune response to viral infection.
Beyond my science itself, I am committed to creating a scientific enterprise that is diverse and equitable. I am a queer, disabled woman, and my equity work largely revolves around bringing the tenets of disability justice and fair labor practices to academia and STEM professions at large.
In my free time, I enjoy painting, reading manga, and spending time with my cat, Poppy.
I believe that good science can only be done in an environment that constantly strives toward equitable access and practices. I am committed to fighting the often overlooked injustices engrained into our institutions, particularly at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.
In 2019, my disability advocacy and professional worlds collided after a dangerous run-in with autonomous delivery robots. This experience spurred my interest in exploring the how academic inaccessibility and quickly evolving, inaccessible tech feed into one another, and how best to remedy them without using disabled people as collateral.
Around the same time, I was heavily involved in our graduate student unionization campaign, and joined the Future of Research board of directors to lead the Labor Task Force, both of which drove my commitment toward addressing the absence of fair and equitable labor practices in science institutions, particularly for early career researchers, to new heights.
Since then, my commitment to equitable science has only continued to grow. I have served as a member of two NASEM projects aiming to improve and re-envision accessibility in STEM, and as a member of the NIH working group to assess the status of US postdoctoral training. I currently serve as the Disability Advisor for the systems biology department at Harvard. As an individual, I enjoy writing and speaking broadly on my identity and vision for a more equitable and accessible scientific enterprise.
I am available for talks, podcasts, consulting, collaborations, and more, just ask!