What led you to pursue a career in research?

I have always wanted to understand how the body works at the molecular and cellular level, which led me to major in neuroscience at the University of Southern California. Working in a neurobiology lab there, I found that I enjoyed the process itself: forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment that could test it, and following the result wherever it led. Over time I also realized I wanted that process to point toward something clinical, particularly diseases that still have no cure. That interest took me to Washington University in St. Louis, where I worked on novel therapeutics for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. Seeing how directly laboratory findings can translate into treatment convinced me to pursue a PhD, and I came to the University of Iowa to train alongside investigators who could help me build that kind of research independently. 

What is the focus of your work?

I study liver cancer under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Taylor. As with other cancers, a key property of liver cancer is uncontrolled growth. To grow, liver cancer requires energy to build new parts and to combat the metabolic stress that is innate to most cancers. A molecule called NADPH is critical for both growth and resistance to stress. This makes the production of NADPH a promising target for treatment. The challenge is that NADPH can be made in many ways, and we do not yet know which of these liver cancer prefers. From these many possibilities, the Taylor lab selected six candidate pathways, which are the focus of my current work. In addition, obesity is a well-known risk factor for liver cancer, and it changes the cellular processes that depend on NADPH. I therefore plan to use a diet-based mouse model, such as a high-fat diet, to identify the role of obesity and these pathways in cancer development. 

What excites you about the research environment in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics?

The department has excellent faculty and a highly collaborative environment, which makes it easy to get advice or learn a new technique. I also appreciate the seminars and workshops the department holds regularly; they are a good way to hear about interesting findings from other labs and connect with them. 

How do you hope your research will impact the field and the broader community?

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States, and many forms still lack effective treatment. My hope is that identifying which NADPH-producing pathways liver cancer primarily relies on will narrow the search for therapies that target tumor metabolism. More broadly, I want to become a researcher who can carry a question from basic mechanism through to something clinically meaningful, and contribute work that eventually reaches the people living with these diseases.