Pronouns: she/her
Major: Biochemistry & Biophysics Major, Chemistry Minor
Title: Undergraduate Research Assistant.
Awards: 2023 Phi Lambda Upsilon Awardee, Drucilla Shepard Smith Award 2022 Recipient, SURE Science Scholar 2023, Finley Academic Scholar, 2021-22 STEM Leader
Hobbies: I love to try new arts and crafts projects all the time! My favorites right now are painting and crochet. I also spend most of my free time volunteering around Corvallis at various organizations, from the local food bank to the American Red Cross.
Research Description: I am currently working on our project to develop an assay for investigating protein-metal interactions associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. Specifically, I utilize fluorescence spectroscopy and anisotropy to monitor the relative size of the peptides before and after inducing aggregation by the introduction of metal species, and confirm these interactions with UV-Vis spectroscopy and TEM and AFM imaging. By pursuing this method of monitoring metal-induced aggregation of peptides commonly found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, we hope to utilize this technique as a high-throughput screening assay for potential therapeutics that can slow, reverse, or inhibit these disease-causing pathways.