Research Interests
​Where biology, space, the brain, and systems overlap.
I’m drawn to the places where fields overlap. Where space affects biology, where genetics interacts with the brain, and where science meets the systems people rely on.
I’m interested in how environments shape biology, how biology influences behavior, and how those patterns show up in the real world.
I don’t see myself as fixed in one discipline yet. I’m still exploring how these areas connect and where I want to go deeper, but the intersections are where I find the most interest right now.
Projects
Spaceflight Microbial Gene-Shift Analysis
As part of NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR 728), I’m studying how E. coli shift their gene expression and metabolic pathways in spaceflight-like environments. I analyze genomic and transcriptomic data to see how microbes adapt under extreme conditions.
GeneLab for High Schools: Space Neurobiology
As part of NASA’s GeneLab for High Schools program, I worked with students across the U.S. to study synaptic transmission under changing gravity conditions. Our findings were presented at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) Conference in Puerto Rico in 2024.
​Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Research Working Group
Through NASA’s OSDR Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Research (ADBR) Working Group, I collaborate with students and researchers across the country to study tunneling nanotubes and small extracellular vesicles. Our goal is to understand how neurodegeneration might accelerate under environmental stress.
I used a public N. gonorrhoeae dataset to train a neural network that predicts antibiotic resistance. Then I used gradient-based analysis to find the DNA segments most responsible for the model’s predictions. The idea was to explore how AI could help guide CRISPR targeting in resistance treatment.
SSP Bacterial Genomics
At the Summer Science Program, I worked with 35 peers from around the world to study mutation patterns and antibiotic resistance evolution in Vibrio natriegens. We built workflows, analyzed sequencing data, and learned how microbes adapt in real time.
I helped write a clinical case letter about a patient with cholangiocarcinoma whose biliary drains may have caused tumor seeding, making him ineligible for liver transplantation. The letter argues for updating transplant criteria to reflect these risks.
Looking Forward
I’m still figuring out my path, but these are the kinds of questions I’m excited to explore as I learn more.
Questions
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How do overlapping stressors interact to reshape microbial gene expression and metabolism?
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How do small-scale genomic or transcriptomic changes accumulate into differences in neural signaling, stress response, or vulnerability to neurodegeneration?
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How can multi-omics and AI modeling translate biological complexity into something clinicians can use to tailor decisions for the person rather than a population trend?
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What would a “precision care system” look like if it updated its decisions based on real-time biological data, lived context, and patient behavior without discarding the structure clinicians rely on?
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How do current policy models break down when biology, environment, and lived experience diverge for rural or under-resourced communities and what frameworks could fix that?
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What can extreme or high-pressure environments (spaceflight, chronic illness, environmental instability) teach us about designing biological, behavioral, or institutional systems that support adaptation instead of breakdown?