In the lab, I work with Angela Kaczmarczyk on investigating germline regeneration in Parhyale hawaiensis. In general, we aim to elucidate the mechanisms through which parhyale maintain and regenerate their germline. We are currently interested in testing specific signaling pathways for their role in this regeneration process. One of my current projects is to create transgenic parhyale which upon heat-shock can either knock-down or misexpress candidate genes of interest. To generate transgenic Parhyale I microinject 1 or 2-cell embryos with a transgenesis construct along with Minos transposase mRNA, hoping it will integrate into the germline of the microinjected animals, which I can later use to establish a stable transgenic line. In particular, we are interested in testing the role of Dpp in germline regeneration. I have also helped with ovary dissections and cell-proliferation assays in order to study somatic verse germline cell proliferation.
I was born and raised in a small town in Northern California called El Dorado Hills. I’m currently a Senior at UC Berkeley studying Molecular Cell Biology as well as Peace and Conflict Studies. In my free time I work with high school students in a mock legislature and court program where I teach students about the processes of government. I joined the Patel Lab in Febraury 2013 and have loved my time here since.