About

I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy and postdoctoral scholar in the Drew Lab in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at PSU. I am fundamentally interested in the cellular and computational mechanisms connecting movement and the nervous system. As a clinician-scientist, my aim is to translate these findings to clinical populations, particularly those marginalized by conventional medical and biopsychosocial diagnostic frameworks.

My training is in clinical orthopedics and bench neuroscience. I completed my bachelor's degree in 2015 as a four-year varsity letterman for the Ithaca College Bombers football team. I recieved my DPT in 2017 and shortly thereaftere completed residency and obtained board-certification in orthopedic physical therapy. My practice focused on patients with chronic neuropathic pain, usually of non-specific origin. My interest in neural mechanisms led me to a PhD investigating the physics of alpha-motoneuron discharge in fatigue and in patients with Parkinson's disease. Currently, I'm using optical imaging and genetically-encoded calcium indicators in mice to investigate how neurons respond to posturally-induced changes in intracranial pressure. I'm also investigating how postural adjustments in locomoting mice cause brain motion within the skull.

In brief, my clinical interests lie in the use of mechanistic neuroscience to understand movement, and how we might translate findings from modern neurobiology to clinical practice in a rehabilitation context. My theoretical interests include the consequences of measurement decisions in both experimental neuroscience and in clinimetric outcomes. I am particularly interested in the intersections between medicine, science and software, and have written software for scientists to analyze movement-related data and for registration of brain imaging onto 3D anatomical templates. Currently, I am exploring the speed and security of Rust to streamline image processing.