I completed my B.S. in Biological Sciences, with Chemistry and Honors minors, at Northern Kentucky University in 2005. As an undergraduate I worked in the lab of Dr. Patrick Schultheis where we studied the expression and genomic organization of a novel family of murine P-type ATPases using molecular biology techniques.  Here I gained an appreciation for integral transmembrane proteins, which I focused into a love for ion channels during my doctoral studies. I completed my Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Emory University, Atlanta, GA in 2011.  I carried out my project entitled “Structural and functional subdomains of the intracellular loop domain of the GABA(A) receptor” in the lab of Dr. Andrew Jenkins. My dissertation research focused on the process of ion permeation and I characterized the function of a structurally unknown region of the ion channel pore using site-directed mutagenesis and patch-clamp electrophysiology techniques. I am excited to continue my study of GABAergic signaling in the lab of Jamie Maguire here in the Neuroscience Department at Tufts University Medical School. As a postdoctoral researcher I will explore the function of ion channels and ion transporters in the context of animal models of seizure and disease. As a TEACRS fellow I will develop new pedagogy skills as it is my long term career goal to mentor undergraduate students both in the classroom and the laboratory.