an engineer with
A passion for sensory neurons
Humans rely on sensory neurons to acquire information about the world around us.
As I mentioned on the Engineering page, neurally-interfaced prosthetics largely inspired me to go back to school and pursue a research career. While studying robotics in my undergraduate mechE classes, I became fascinated with the sensors that transduce energy from a physical form (such as a push or pull) into an electrical signal. When I learned that sensory neurons use the same physical principles, I was hooked. Since those early days, regardless of my main research project, my desire to understand how sensory signals are transduced and transmitted remains unshaken.
Select research projects
Google Scholar Profile
Visiting this page is the easiest way to access my publications related to my research:
Calcium regulation in age-related sensory neuropathy
My current work as a postdoc focuses on understanding how calcium is regulated in sensory neuron compartments and how dysregulation of this process may drive age-related degeneration.
MeT channel localization in touch receptor neurons
As a PhD student in Dr. Miriam Goodman’s Lab, I studied how molecular cues within and outside of touch receptor neurons play a role in direction the localization of Mechano-electrical transduction ion channels.
Proprioceptor firing rate follows muscle mechanics
In 2012, Dr. Katie Wilkinson opened her neurophysiology lab at San José State University, and I became her first lab member. In that work I performed extracellular recordings from proprioceptors in an ex vivo prep. This ex vivo prep allowed us to apply controlled stretches to the innervated muscle and measure the accompanying force. Through this project I learned that proprioceptor firing rates are closely related to muscle mechanics during stretch.