Mucin Glycopolymers Prevent Microbial Virulence While Preventing the Development of Antibiotic Resistance

Research Interests

I am a Ph.D. candidate and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. In Katharina Ribbeck's lab, I study how unique glycopolymers in mucus can be leveraged as antivirulence therapeutics to fight infections while circumventing antibiotic resistance. I'm interested in understanding the mechanisms of environment- and community-dependent bacterial interactions to promote human health and sustainability. I have experience in glycobiology, polymers, microfluidics, microbiology, and synthetic biology. Before coming to MIT, I earned my B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Caltech where I engineered proteins from soil bacteria with Frances Arnold. I then spent a year in Switzerland as a Fulbright Fellow, where I studied cell-free synthetic biology with Sebastian Maerkl at EPFL.

I have 4+ years of experience mentoring and teaching inside and outside the lab. I'm a trained conflict management coach through MIT REFS (since 2016). I have mentored four undergraduate students at the bench. I have been a teaching assistant for 8 courses in my career, earning me department awards for teaching excellence.