About
I engineer synthetic proteins as possible therapeutics for repeat expansion disorders such as myotonic dystrophy and ALS. These proteins are designed to bind specifically to toxic RNA produced in these diseases and prevent sequestration of RNA binding proteins by the repeat RNA. I also work on synthetic versions of MBNL1 to better understand the mechanism by which this protein works. Previously, I studied Biology at Saint Leo University where I researched structural analysis of PKCδI and PKCδVIII to determine the activities of the two isoforms and what in the variance of the sequence affected their functions as well as their crosstalk with cell survival pathways.