Research News

University where PhD was obtained: University of Georgia and focused on the role of glycans in human disease.

Duration of training and lab: I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr. Raed Dweik from 2012-2016.

Work at Lerner: My work focused on the role of dysregulated glucose metabolism on cell glycosylation and cell function.

Successes while at Lerner: The experience in the lab of Dr. Dweik at the Lerner Research Institute was very influential in my career. I was able to obtain a NIH F32 NRSA fellowship within the first year of my postdoc. The F32 was the foundation for my K99/R00 NIH Grant that was funded in 2016. I was able to publish 11 manuscripts and received invited platform talks to the International Society for Hyaluronan Sciences, American Thoracic Society, and the Society for Glycobiology.

New position title: I am currently an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

New role description: I am a research scientist with my own independent research laboratory. My lab currently has 5 members including a graduate student who I get to mentor and train in the fields of lung biology and glycobiology. Teaching and mentoring is my favorite part of the job. I am also really passionate about finding creative ways to address complex problems.

Preparations provided at Lerner: The level of guidance/mentorship I received at Lerner was what prepared me for my current position. Dr. Dweik was (and still is) a big part of my career success. In addition, the overall collaborative spirit and team science approach at Lerner has helped me achieve new avenues of research here at UAB that I would have otherwise overlooked.

Reflecting on time at Lerner: Yes, the people. I truly loved my time at Lerner and I am still very fond of the relationships I built while I was there.

Advice for current Lerner postdocs: Keep your focus and do not become complacent with the present-day (forward relentless momentum).