EDUCATION

Columbia University, New York, NY
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry

Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

University of Delaware, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, NMR Center
NMR Spectroscopist, Assistant Professor
2017-present

• Operate and maintain 9 shared solid state and solution NMR instruments in the NMR Center, including troubleshooting and repairing all instruments
• Cryogenic services, including liquid nitrogen and helium refills, to all 9 superconducting magnets
• Prepare user protocols including general instrument procedures, setup guides for commonly performed experiments, and probe-specific user guides
• Train and supervise NMR Center users
• Implement newly developed NMR techniques for structural biology and materials applications
• Implemented new instrument usage software (iLab) including user training, responsible for monitoring and confirming instrument usage through iLab
• Collaborate with diverse groups of faculty and students to help accomplish their research goals
• Collaborate with faculty to prepare grants for new equipment

University of Delaware, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Polenova Lab
Post-doctoral Fellow
2013-2017

• Demonstrated the critical role of protein dynamics in the final step of HIV-1 maturation and discovered the mechanism of maturation inhibition by a class of antiretroviral drugs through an integrated biophysical approach
• Characterized structural and dynamic perturbations to the HIV-1 capsid induced by binding of the restriction factor TRIM5α and proposed a mechanism for capsid disruption by TRIM5α
• Developed a novel sample condition for high resolution MAS NMR studies of nucleic acids
• Benchmarked density functional theory calculations of chemical shift tensors (CSTs) for a microcrystalline lectin protein (OAA) by comparison with experimental CSA values, working toward use of quantum mechanically calculated CSTs in structure refinement protocols

Columbia University, Department of Chemistry, McDermott Lab
Graduate Fellow
2013-2017

• Demonstrated novel approach for quantitative dynamics studies on the ms – μs timescale by magic angle spinning NMR with T_1ρ relaxation using the chemical shift tensor
• Utilized CSA tensors and novel T_1ρ measurements to characterize the dynamics and ionization states of several ligands interacting with a glycolytic enzyme and demonstrated that active site structure is not affected by ligand charge

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA (F32) Post-Doctoral Fellowship

National Institutes of Health Biophysics Training Grant (T32) Graduate Fellowship

Fairfield University:

• Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society and Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society
• College of Arts and Sciences Award in Science
• Alumni Association Women’s Varsity Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• Chemistry Department Awards: CRC Press Freshman Chemistry Award, ACS Award for Achievement in Analytical Chemistry, ACS Award for Achievement in Organic Chemistry, ACS Senior Chemistry Award