I joined the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2024 as an Assistant Professor, with a joint appointment in Neurology. My lab studies the functional organization of brainstem motor circuits and how their circuit logic implements movement. We seek to define principles of motor control that can inform new approaches to treat movement disorders.
My research has received support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Lundbeck Foundation, the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Brain Research Foundation, and the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation. Honors include the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the Parkinson’s Foundation Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award, and the C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy from the American Association for Anatomy.
I received a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a PhD in Neuroscience from Case Western Reserve University in 2018 under the mentorship of Drs. Jerry Silver and Lynn T. Landmesser. My doctoral work combined electrophysiological and molecular approaches to investigate the neural control of respiration. As a postdoctoral fellow in Ole Kiehn’s laboratory at the University of Copenhagen, I expanded this work to examine brainstem circuits governing locomotion and behavior.
Outside the laboratory, I enjoy music and time outdoors, especially playing the violin and cross-country skiing.
