I completed my bachelors degree in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and worked in several labs in both academia and private companies as a technician. My interest in neuroscience and examining the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory eventually led me to the Ting Lab at MIT (now at Stanford) and then to Utah and the Shepherd lab. My PhD work focuses on characterizing Activity Regulated Cytoskeleta
l (Arc) containing Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) and looking at how they are released from mammalian cells using
in vitro and biochemical approaches. Improved understanding of Arc in this context may have implications for understanding and treating cognitive disease states, including diseases such as autism and Alzheimer’s.
Yu, Y., Li, Z., Rizzo, N.,
Einstein, J., and Welte, M. Targeting the motor regulator Klar to lipid droplets. BMC Cell Biology. 2011 Feb 4; 12: 9.