I grew up in a small town and didn't know any scientists, so I never considered it a career I could pursue. I didn't know I wanted to be a scientist until I had the opportunity to work in a research lab during undergrad. I found this position just by talking to STEM professors who suggested I apply to a lab that had an opening for the summer. I had no other plans and it seemed interesting. It turned out to be a formative experience and I grew so much from having mentors like me to help me reason through scientific problems and find new results. The lab members also became some of my dearest friends.

Once I found my first result in my undergrad lab, I realized I could contribute new ideas and findings to a field that people around the world cared about. I was hooked and knew this was something I wanted to spend my life doing. With a lot of help from my undergrad lab PI, I was accepted to a PhD program.

I joined my PhD lab because I was interested in learning about the intersection of cell, cancer, and regenerative biology. Each of these fields has strengths and I want to apply principles from each to answer questions about cell fate changes in the context of human disease.