overview

• After successfully running my own construction contracting business, a life changing event caused me to shift gears and pursue a career in biomedical research. The after effects of a car accident left me out of work for 6 months and I underwent some extensive therapy on the road to full recovery. The science behind the treatments intrigued me, and even after returning to work, my newfound interest in physical medicine and human physiology led me to ponder a career change. I decided to return to college with the initial intention of becoming a clinician, inspired by the physiatrist who helped me during my rehabilitation. I quickly became enamored with performing and interpreting experiments in my undergraduate science courses, and sought out a position in a research lab studying the effect of ischemic stroke on the peripheral neuromuscular system. While in a Biology of Aging course, a lecture on sarcopenia was the catalyst that shifted my educational focus towards a research PhD.After completing a BS degree in biology and physiology, I earned my PhD with Dr. LaDora Thompson at the University of Minnesota researching aging muscle physiology using rodent models. I then finished a postdoc in muscle metabolism/physiology under the mentorship of Dr. Blake Rasmussen in the Department of Nutrition and Metabolism at the University of Texas Medical Branch. I worked on a multitude of projects ranging from large team science clinical trials to creating transgenic mouse models, while learning new techniques, model systems (human, cell culture), lab management/supervisory skills and expanding the overall research capability of our lab by leveraging my expertise in animal models and human primary cells. I am now a tenure track assistant professor at East Carolina University in the Department of Physical Therapy, with secondary appointments in the departments of Physiology and Kinesiology. My lab researches mechanisms underlying age-related loss of physical function and decline of muscle health, and how exercise serves as an intervention, with a recent addition of exercise effects on cognition. My career goal is to help to improve human healthspan and the quality of life of older adults through application of basic and translational biomedical science.