I received my Ph.D in Biochemistry from Penn State University, working with Drs. Ron Porter & Ed Stevens on research developing a patented gene transfer system in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). My first postdoctoral project there dealt with using this system to find cyanobacterial genes that confer herbicide-resistance in plants, with Drs. Don Bryant & Ralph Mumma. I then worked on identifying genetic factors that control the response of plants to light as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Elaine Tobin at UCLA. As a Molecular Development Scientist in the Hematology Research & Advanced Diagnostics Labs at CHOC Children's Hospital of Orange County, I have been working with Dr. Diane Nugent to investigate the genetic regulation and diagnosis of childhood diseases since 1998.