ESP Biography

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I am in my fourth year of the Developmental Biology PhD program here at Stanford. My big picture scientific question is: how does a cell know it's identity? I study adult stem cells, the cells that live in your gut, your skin, your bone marrow, and many other tissues in your body. These cells are responsible for maintaining a healthy tissue, repairing damages, and must be well regulated to prevent cancer. I use fruit flies as a simple model system to study the questions of how stem cells keep their identity but also when and how to make a new and different cell type. Specifically, I'm interest in the concept of the niche or microenvironment and how cells nearby a differentiating cell inform cell fate decisions.
When I'm not in the lab, I'm eating amazing food, hiking in the Sierras, or playing intense table top games. I'm passionate about educating the public about science and showing people why I love the work that I do as a graduate student.

Past Classes