About
I'm a neuroscience researcher with over 15 years of experience spanning three major research institutions — the CUNY Graduate Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the University at Albany. My career has been shaped by a conviction that scientific discovery is inseparable from advances in tools and methodology, and that the best research happens when rigorous technique meets creative thinking.
At Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, I worked my way from assistant researcher to lab manager in the Osten Lab, where I helped produce brain-wide maps of GABAergic interneuron subtypes using serial two-photon tomography — work that was published in Cell (Impact Factor 64.5). I managed a breeding colony of over 500 mice, oversaw lab budgets and procurement, trained staff, and coordinated with IACUC on protocol development. That experience gave me a deep appreciation for the operational side of science: the logistics, the resource management, and the team coordination that make good research possible.
At Albany, my doctoral research shifted toward quantitative synthesis. My thesis uses meta-analytic methods to investigate a question with real implications for drug development: do standard laboratory housing conditions systematically inflate preclinical effect sizes? The answer appears to be yes — rodents show approximately 2.5× larger cognitive enhancement from enrichment interventions compared to humans. This finding has direct relevance for anyone evaluating the translational potential of preclinical drug candidates.
I'm also a first author on a review in CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics examining IGF-2 as a therapeutic candidate for Alzheimer's disease, drawing on my years of hands-on work with intranasal administration protocols, behavioral testing, and primary hippocampal cell culture across roughly 200 rats.
Teaching & Mentorship
Teaching has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. Over seven semesters at SUNY Albany and Hudson Valley Community College, I've taught statistics for psychology with full course responsibility — lectures, exams, grading, and office hours. I've mentored 16 undergraduate researchers, guiding them from initial project design through honors thesis completion. I also developed a 50+ page Scientific Research Literacy Guide that walks students through every stage of the research process, from hypothesis development to manuscript preparation.
What I love most about teaching is watching the moment when a concept clicks — when a student who was intimidated by statistics suddenly realizes they can actually do this. That's the same feeling I get from good science: the satisfaction of making something complex understandable.
What I Bring
I offer a rare combination of deep wet-lab expertise and strong quantitative skills. I've performed stereotaxic surgery on both mice and rats, run primary cell cultures, operated advanced imaging systems, and managed complex animal colonies — while also building proficiency in R, Python, meta-analysis, mixed-effects modeling, and Bayesian statistics. I'm comfortable at the bench, at the whiteboard, and at the command line.
I'm seeking roles where I can apply this breadth of experience to real-world problems — in biotech, pharmaceuticals, data science, or translational research. I'm especially drawn to positions that value both scientific depth and the ability to communicate across disciplines.
Outside the Lab
When I'm not analyzing data or writing, I enjoy hiking in the Catskills and Adirondacks, reading about science and philosophy, and building small web projects.