I received my B.S. in Bioinformatics and Masters of Bioinformatics from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2014. During my time at VCU, I was involved in mentoring and teaching students topics ranging from beginning scripting language skills to comprehensive bioinformatics research projects. My graduate work focused on developing a metagenomics analysis pipeline as a part of the Vaginal Microbiome Consortium. Specifically, my software focused on species-level classification of 16s rRNA genes and futher downstream taxonomic analysis in order to study the frequency and diversity of bacterial present in clinical vaginal samples. While completing my graduate work, I was also employed with the Department of Internal Medicine at the Medical Campus of Virginia under the Division of Infectious Diseases where I realized my interest in public health and human disease reserach.
Outside of the lab I enjoy reading, building model cars, computer games, and spending time with my wife and son. I am also actively involved with LGBT advocacy and volunteer as a facilitator to trans* youth.