Biography

I earned a dual MD/PhD from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, receiving my PhD in 2012 and my MD in 2014. During my graduate studies, I examined how aging influences the molecular regulation of dopamine in the rat basal ganglia in the lab of Michael Salvatore, PhD. This research resulted in two first author publications, as well as six additional publications, and helped instill in me a desire to better understand molecular mechanisms in the brain that are involved in human behavior and how these mechanisms go awry in disease states. In my final years of medical school, I developed a strong interest in Psychiatry and a desire to pursue a research-oriented career in this field and to reorient my research toward understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying Psychiatric illness. To this end, I completed my General Adult Psychiatry Residency Training at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in 2018.

During my residency I was a prominent member of the research track and had the great fortune of being mentored by Eric Morrow, MD, PhD with whom I studied a rare genetic neurodevelopmental and possibly neurodegenerative condition called Christianson syndrome, which is caused by mutations in Na+/H+ Exchanger 6 (NHE6), a protein that helps regulate the pH of endosomes by deacidifying them. I helped characterize neurodegenerative changes in the mouse model of Christianson syndrome and analyzed magnetic resonance images from patients with Christianson syndrome to identify structural brain changes associated with this disease, findings which have led to one published manuscript and another that is currently in preparation.

Upon completing my residency training in 2018, I accepted a tenure track position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I currently split my time between clinical work as an Attending Psychiatrist on our Adult Inpatient Teaching Service and academic research in the lab of the Chair of my department, James Meador-Woodruff, MD, a world-renowned expert in molecular disruptions in schizophrenia brain. Here, I am applying the knowledge I gained during my research in residency with Dr. Morrow to investigate how disruptions to intracellular compartmental pH regulation may contribute to schizophrenia pathophysiology.

Education & Training 

Brown University
Residency, 2018

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport
Medical School, 2014

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