Happiest
at the
bench.
Biochemistry major at Texas Tech University and a biochemist in Dr. Joshua Tropp's lab, where I work with conjugated polymers and the cells that meet them. I'm a bit of everything — chemistry, biology, design, a little code — and I genuinely can't wait to get into the lab most mornings.
The
journey
I've taken a few turns to get here, and every one of them added something. The through-line is simple: I like learning things, I like making things, and I like working hard on problems I care about.
Curious by default
Taking things apart, building things, reading about how the world works. That curiosity never went anywhere — it just found molecules.
Making things
Picked up coding and design on my own as a kid. They're still part of the toolkit — handy for a lab fixture, a quick analysis, or a website like this one.
Computer science
Started college in CS and enjoyed it — but somewhere along the way I realized the systems I found most exciting were the living ones.
Biochemistry
Transferred to Texas Tech and switched to biochemistry. Best decision I've made — the classes are as fun as they are hard, and every semester makes me more sure of it.
Biochemist in the Tropp Lab
I'm a biochemist in Dr. Joshua Tropp's group. I work with conjugated polymers in all their forms and study how cells respond to them — culturing, viability assays, imaging — to understand what makes these materials biocompatible.
PhD in biochemistry
Next up: a doctorate in biochemistry at Texas Tech, building on the conjugated polymer work and going deeper into where materials meet living cells. I can't wait.
Tropp Lab
The Tropp Lab works on conjugated polymers — soft, fluorescent, semiconducting materials that can sit right at the interface of electronics and biology. My corner of the lab is the biological one: how cells respond to these materials in their different forms, how to characterize biocompatibility, and how to make a polymer something a cell is happy to live with. It's a great group, and I'm lucky to be part of it.