I am currently a M.S Candidate and Teaching Assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences at DePaul University and the LeClair lab manager. As lab manager my duties include managing our NIH grant, researching and placing weekly orders, organizing lab inventory, reconciling budget transactions and preparing spending reports.

As a researcher I am interested in the development and regeneration of the Zebrafish Maxillary Barbel. The Zebrafish Maxillary Barbel is a sensory skin appendage that contains many tissue types. I use cell and molecular techniques to examine differences and similarities between the barbel and the development and regeneration of other appendages, like the caudal fin. I primarily focus on the roles of Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) and Wnt signaling pathways during these processes. Techniques I perform include zebrafish husbandry and genotyping, microsurgery, microdissection, DNA isolation and purification, restriction digest, gel electrophoresis, primer design, RNA isolation, RT-PCR, nested and touchdown PCR, fluorescent and confocal microscopy, whole-mount and in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry.