My educational background is in biochemistry, with specific training in the field of cancer research. After graduating from Hunter College I attained a position as a research technician with Professor Lewis Cantley in the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, working on cancer metabolism in pancreatic cancer cell lines. More specifically, we studied glutamine utilization, targeting key enzymes in the pentose phosphate pathway, comparing how pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells differ in their production of Got1, and seeking a target that can respond to drugs. I have also investigated the inhibition of metabolic enzymes that are involved in the PI3K pathway and how they relate to DNA damage in breast cancer.

In my current role as Lab Manager in Professor Harold Varmus’ lab, also in the Meyer Cancer Center, I am responsible for day-to-day lab operations. I train incoming research technicians, students, and post-doctoral fellows as well as act as a liaison between the lab and research administration. I am also working on a project to determine the basis of ‘mutual exclusivities’ in mutated gene pairs, specifically in human lung adenocarcinoma.