Position Title
Graduate Student
- Neuroscience Graduate Group
- Major Professor: Alex Nord
Research Description
Before coming to UC Davis to purse a PhD in Neuroscience, I received my B.S. in Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego in 2017. I decided to do my dissertation research in Alex Nord’s lab which has a focus on neurogenomics. My research interest are in understanding the underlying pathology of neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorder (ASD). My current research aims to shed light on the cell-type specific pathology of high confidence de novo heterozygous mutations seen in ASD patients. To understand how the dosage effects of these genes lead to disease in humans, we use mouse models that recapitulate aspects of ASD pathology. We then leverage these translationally relevant models to understand how decreased expression of these genes perturbs typical brain development, looking at proliferation, migration, differentiation, and function of cell types during neurodevelopment.