Bio

I first became interested in viruses during the 2009 influenza pandemic. I was living in the dorms at Penn State at the time, and of course, I got infected. Around the same time, I was taking an introductory biology class in which we learned about how the pandemic virus formed. I remember being completely floored when I learned that influenza viruses from pigs, birds, and humans could mix together to form a new virus capable of infecting millions. To this day, I still think it’s amazing.

I completed Bachelors degrees in Biology and Music (trumpet performance) at Penn State University before heading to Wisconsin for a PhD. During my PhD in Tom Friedrich’s lab, I developed protocols for generating and bioinformatically processing deep sequence data from RNA viruses. We used this data to investigate how RNA viruses evolve within individual hosts, and during transmission between them. I developed a particular interest in how viruses adapt to new host species, and the role that transmission bottlenecks play in viral evolution. I finished my PhD in 2017 and moved to Seattle to start a doc post-doc in Trevor Bedford’s lab. During my post-doc, I worked on combining genomics data across scales to understand how new mutations are generated during infection and propagated between individuals and across communities. I also employed genomic epidemiology methods to investigate drivers of viral outbreaks, and was generally interested in the utility of phylogenetic trees for dissecting how viruses evolve and transmit between hosts. I transitioned to an independent role as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in September 2022.

When I’m not working, I love being outside, and exploring new outdoor spaces through hiking, biking, and skiing. I still occasionally play trumpet and love listening to live classical music. I also bake bread, tend to an inordinate number of houseplants, and love to watch trashy movies.