I joined the Stevens lab in June 2023 following a postdoctoral research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Alzheimer’s Clinical & Translational Research Unit (ACTRU). At ACTRU, I worked in the Biomarker Core with Dr. Steven Arnold and Dr. Pia Kivisäkk-Webb to identify and validate Alzheimer’s disease-specific biomarkers of dysregulated proteostasis (i.e., autophagy and ubiquitin-proteasome system) in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Prior to joining ACTRU, I earned my Doctorate degree in Biochemical & Molecular Nutrition from Tufts University, working with Dr. Barbara Shukitt-Hale in the Neuroscience lab at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. During my Ph.D., I studied the beneficial effects of dietary phytochemicals on processes associated with neurodegeneration and brain aging, including neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, glial cell activation, and cognitive decline. My thesis work demonstrated the attenuating effects of polyphenol-rich blueberry extract on stressor-induced deficits in the central nervous system, using both cell (microglia) and rodent models. Prior to graduate work, I completed my undergraduate degree in Medicine, Health & Society, with minors in Neuroscience and Corporate Strategy at Vanderbilt University. I look forward to working on biomarker development for Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia at the Broad with the Stevens lab!