I first arrived at UNTHSC in 2007 as a Masters student in the Forensic Genetics Program, working extensively in research on expert systems and software development for the field. Upon graduating in 2009, and having found a love for research, I decided to pursue a PhD in Molecular Genetics, which was conferred in December of 2013. Throughout my experience at UNTHSC as a student and postdoctoral fellow, my research interests evolved. With my roots in forensic genetics, I began studying genetics of age-related, complex disease. In 2016, I returned to UNTHSC as a faculty member and have established a diverse research program.
Our laboratory has a several areas of interest:
1) studies of mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial function, in the context of various disease states such as Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes and preeclampsia (in collaboration with Dr. Stella Goulopoulou);
2) genetic aspects of pain and pain management, as the Director for Genomic Research for PRECISION Texas;
3) genetic risk for age-related disease and comorbidity patterns, via genome-wide genotyping, methylation profiling, and data mining.