My research began at the University of Wyoming where I received a B.S. in Molecular Biology. During my former studies I had the opportunity to work in the laboratory of Dr. Grant Bowman and sequence bacterial libraries. 

Following the completion of that work, I took an Immunology course with Dr. Jason Gigley, where I was exposed to the intriguing study of immunology.

While taking his class, I joined his lab and received an INBRE scholarship to conduct research on the interaction of T. gondii and host immune systems. It was this work that sparked my interest in understanding the biological mechanics of the adaptive immune system. Directly following my graduation, I moved to Iowa as a part of the Immunology PhD Program. 

I originally rotated with Dr. Karandikar and assessed the interaction of cytokine treatment in conferring CD4+ T cell resistance to CD8+ T cell suppression. Following the rotation, I briefly did work on examining how T cells sense their environment, and how that influences function and fate of these cells. Coming back to the lab I am hoping to elucidate the mechanism by which T cells interact with each other and communicate to orchestrate the pathology seen in Multiple Sclerosis patients.