Undergraduate Institution: Grinnell College

Research mentor: Dawn Quelle, PhD (Neuroscience and Pharmacology)
Research topic: Studying how a tumor promoting protein is modified by a cancer suppressing protein in lung neuroendocrine tumors. The research will then introduce mutations at identified modification sites to determine how they alter the protein’s function in tumor cells.

Background: Although I have lived in several locations throughout the South, I consider my hometown to be Savannah, Georgia. I came to Iowa when I attended Grinnell College where I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree (Biology major) in May 2023. I developed an interest in cancer research during my first undergraduate research experience through a collaboration project in the FUTURE in Biomedicine Program between Grinnell College and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. While studying the complexity of cancer cell survival and how to disable it, I steadily improved my lab skills, critical thinking, and scientific communication—driving me to pursue further mentorship in cancer research.  I am grateful to have been in the 2021 cohort and 2022 cohort of UI's FUTURE in Biomedicine. 

An opportunity that shaped me was to have the opportunity to volunteer and shadow military physicians and surgeons at Tripler Army Medical Clinic in Honolulu, Hawaii. While there, I learned about the US Army’s approach to providing quality medical services to military personnel and their family members.  

In the future, my career goals are to become a physician-scientist and to help encourage other first generation/low-income students to aim high and to never underestimate their potential.  When I am not busy in the classroom or the laboratory, I enjoy spending time exploring Iowa City's food scene.