I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Health Genetics (data science/ml track) at the University of Washington in the McCrone and Bedford labs under the joint mentorship of Dr. JT McCrone and Dr. Trevor Bedford.

For my research, I am starting with focusing on viral dynamics across biological scales from molecular to global phylodynamics linking within-host viral evolution to between-host viral dynamics. Also interested in AI-driven predictive models such as Large Language Models (LLMs) to predict viral-host compatibility and enhance Nextstrain’s real-time tracking of pathogen evolution.

Prior, I formally trained as an epidemiologist, holding a MS in Genetic Epidemiology and worked at the California Department of Public Health’s Division of Communicable Disease Control in addition to completing a year-long field/applied epidemiology training program – UW Student Epidemic Action Leaders (SEAL) Team lead by Dr. Janet Baseman through the UW Dept. of Epidemiology. Some of my research experience includes roles at the UW Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Research in the Hawn Lab, the UW Institute for Protein Design in the Baker Lab, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and Harvard’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics.

More broadly, my interdisciplinary background across multiple biological scales converges on high level pandemic preparedness and response as part of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security - Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity (ELBI) Class of 2024. (See here – I attended the 1st ELBI meeting in Washington DC w/ the White House — Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR) lead by Major General (ret) Paul Friedrichs).