University: University of Utah
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
NIH Research Project:
The Relationship of the Homeobox Gene Msx-2 to Expression of Cripto in Mammary Gland Development
Mentor: Barbara K. Vonderhaar, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute
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Growing up in a small Utah town, science has always been a large part of my life-from following a trail of ants to finding the perfect mixture of baking soda and vinegar for my homemade volcano.
Being a first generation college student and the only high school graduate amongst my siblings, education was not stressed and a formal science education was not planned for me in my rearing. However, upon entering college I was soon able to focus my passion for science into a productive and enjoyable occupation. While training with Dr. David Gard for four years at the University of Utah, I studied the proteins involved in modulating cell structure throughout the cell cycle, and I began to understand the importance of the formal training that is required to become a successful scientist.
Currently I am continuing my formal training at the National Institutes of Health by studying the process by which breast cancer cells metastasize. I am conducting the research under the mentorship of Dr. Barbara Vonderhaar in the National Cancer Institute. Using mice as a model system, we are finding that there are specific proteins that promote the transition from epithelial cells to mesenchymal cells, often referred to as EMT.
Upon finishing the NIH scholarship program, I hope to use the formal training I have acquired while at the University of Utah and the NIH to obtain an M.D./Ph.D. with an emphasis on cell biology that would allow me to later contribute to the fight against cancer.
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