In 2016, I completed a PhD in Neuroscience at Oregon Health & Science University. In my PhD project, I studied Charcot Marie Tooth peripheral neuropathy type 4B2 (CMT4B2). The neuropathy is caused by a mutation in an inactive phosphatase that appears to affect only Schwann cells. Why this mutation leads to a myelination defect exclusively in Schwann cells is unclear. I worked to dissect the function of this phosphatase in order to understand the basic biology and pathomechanisms behind CMT4B2 using genetic knock-out disease models, myelinating Schwann cell culture, and virally mediated genetic manipulations.

After defending my dissertation, I jumped head first into public interest technology by way of a Mozilla Fellowship. In that fellowship, I ran open source project management workshops for scientists and technologists around the world. The year of this fellowship coincided an effort to back up federal datasets, during which I explored decentralized approaches to data preservation.

At the end of this transformative year, the line between issues in science and wider internet freedom and privacy issues was made clear to me. I’ve devoted my career to building the field of public interest research and tech.

Before graduate school, I worked as a research technician, a barista, a bakery worker, an art teacher, an art installer, a house painter, and numerous other jobs. I’ve studied at Rutgers, LaGuardia Community College, and the University of Vermont.