Bio

I am a PhD candidate in the Microbiology, Virology, and Parisitology program at Penn, completing my thesis work in the Moncla and Hensley Labs. Here, I have worked to integrate both dry- and wet-lab techniques to studying H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). In particular, I am fascinated by how these viruses evolve to enhance fitness across species as well as how exposure to seasonal influenza shapes cross-reactive humoral immunity against H5 viruses in humans.

In the Moncla Lab, I have applied phylogenetic approaches to achieve two goals: (1) to develop a simple and user-friendly H5 sequence annotation tool, and (2) to better understand how reassortment modulates fitness of H5 viruses in their natural wild bird hosts.

Previously, H5 clade assignment tools often required command-line access and bioinformatics expertise, hindering use for many users, including public health labs. To remedy this, I developed H5-specific datasets for Nextclade, a drag-and-drop browser tool which allows for rapid phylogenetic placement and clade assignment of user-input sequences—without requiring any bioinformatics knowledge.

Upon the introduction of H5 HPAI into North America, the virus rapidly and repeatedly reassorted with endemic, low pathogenic influenza viruses. However, it is not well understood how reassortment modulates fitness in their natural hosts. In ongoing work, I am applying phylodynamic and phylogeographic methods to asssess the relative fitness of established USDA H5 genotypes (corresponding to unqiue reassortant constellations) in wild birds.

Prior to starting graduate school, I attended Penn State and received bachelor’s degrees in Microbiology and Chemistry. There, I completed undergraduate research focused on identifying a novel isomerase in the skin commensal Micrococcus luteus. After graduating, I moved to Philadelphia and worked as a research tech in the Hensley lab for a year, primarily studying antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 and identifying an antigenic mismatch for the H3N2 component of a recent flu vaccine.

Outside of lab, I spend a lot of my free time tending to my large houseplant collection, discovering new music, and going to concerts. I also love exploring new parts of the city and cooking/baking.