Currently I am in my sixth year in the Physics PhD program here at DU. I earned my B.S. degree in Physics, with a minor in Applied Mathematics, from the State University of New York at Fredonia in May of 2015. During my undergraduate years, I did research over the course of two summers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) through their collegiate internship program. The most recent summer, 2014, that I spent at RPCI I worked for Dr. Mukund Seshadri focusing on a novel contrast agent “nanonaps.” We used in vitro and in vivo techniques to show that nanonaps were a compelling resource for modelling nanoparticle drug delivery to primary and metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. I was invited to and did present my work at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Biomedical Research Day, and again at the end of the program in front of a panel of graduate students and postdocs. The first summer I was there, 2013, I did work for Dr. Ulas Sunar on a clinical trial that combined Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI) with High Frequency Ultrasound (HFUS). Our hypothesis was that we could provide a cheaper, more effective method for demarcating and characterizing non-melanoma squamous cell carcinomas (NMSCCs) prior to being excised by Mohs micrographic surgery or treated with Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). This project resulted in a co-author publication in Academic Radiology: Preoperative mapping of nonmelanoma skin cancer using spatial frequency domain and ultrasound imaging.

Outside of my academic activities, I also was a member of the swim team at Jamestown Community College and SUNY Fredonia. During my years at JCC I earned the distinction of being an All-American Honorable Mention swimmer for both years that I attended. My events included the 1650, 1000, 500, 200, 400IM, and 200IM.