Born and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, I earned a B.S. in Engineering Mechanics with a concentration in biomechanics and a minor in Bioegineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2012. After graduation, I spent 3 years working in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries in a variety of roles across manufacturing, product support, distribution, and quality assurance.

I returned to the University of Illinois in 2015 to pursue a PhD. in Bioengineering, where I joined the Underhill Lab. My research areas are tissue engineering and biomechanics. Beyond the technical skills I expected to gain, I've also found a love for education, sharing knowledge, and mentoring.

In July of 2021, I finally broke free of my Illinois roots and moved to Birmingham, AL to join the University of Alabama at Birmingham to start a postdoctoral researcher position in the Cardiovascular Diseases Division. 

When I'm not in lab, class, or volunteering in my community, you can probably find me cooking, gardening with my husband, or trying to convince our dog to behave.