I am a cellular and molecular neuroscientist studying the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neurotoxicity, with a focus on how glial cells—astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes—become dysfunctional and contribute to neurological disease.

Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow in Shane Liddelow’s lab at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where I investigate the roles of reactive astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease and oligodendrocytes in X-linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism. 

Before moving to New York, I pursued my Ph.D. in the Chemistry Department at Purdue University under the mentorship of Gaurav Chopra. My doctoral research combined chemical biology and neuroscience to study microglial biology in Alzheimer’s disease. My work uncovered that amyloid β induces lipid droplet formation in microglia, leading to impaired phagocytosis. In parallel, I developed novel chemical tools, including a pH-sensitive Aβ probe for real-time quantitative imaging of glial phagocytosis. 

My long-term goal is to establish an independent research program that defines mechanisms of glial dysfunction in neurodegeneration and identifies molecular pathways that can be targeted for therapeutic intervention.