I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, grew up in Rockville, Maryland through elementary school, junior high in Kailua, Hawaii, and back to high school in Charlotte, N.C. I got my undergraduate in Zoology and Psychology at UNC at Chapel Hill.  I began working at UNC shortly after I graduated beginning in the Biology Department as a technician in the Drosophila genetics lab of Dr. John Lucchesi studying sex linked genes and dosage compensation.  I then joined the maize genetics lab of Dr. Patricia Bedinger and began doing molecular biology studying pollen development.  I joined the Microbiology and Immunology Dept. beginning with Dr. Marshall Edgell working on inhibition of metalloproteases implicated in breast cancer metastasis and protein folding.  I joined the laboratory of Dr. Aravinda de Silva in 1999 and am currently a Research Analyst in his lab conducting Lyme disease research focusing on various factors affecting transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi.  

Some outside interests are sailing, pottery, games, music, and plants.  I have a small catamaran, enjoy classes at Glazed Expectations, like to play pool, ping pong, and have recently taken up golf.  I sing and play blues/rock harmonica, have a small collection of succulent plants that live at the lab and attempt to grow orchids.