My primary goal is to manage the Howell lab. This involves interacting with all lab members to ensure they have everything they need to accomplish their goals. This includes maintaining lab stocks, managing core mouse colonies, keeping our protocols up to date, and working with lots of different departments at JAX make sure our work meets the highest of standards. I recently completed my Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Maine, in collaboration with Dr. Fayeza Ahmed, where I also got my undergraduate degree - once a black bear always a black bear! Scientifically, I am very interested in the role of microglia in health and disease and so am working closely with Gareth and the lab of Dr. Erik Bloss to determine whether transcriptional states of microglia are actually functionally distinct. For these questions, I am utilizing my skills in generating complex mouse crosses, to test ways to ablate specific states of microglia. Beyond specific experiments, I am passionate about improving awareness and access to care for Alzheimer’s disease suffers. This has led me to working closely with the Alzheimer’s Association Maine Chapter (https://www.alz.org/maine) on advocacy and fundraising, and I am captain of our Longest Day team – the ADventures (https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=adventures -the longest day fundraiser).
