Department of Chemical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Cambridge, MA
T cells recognize diverse molecular signatures of pathogens on the surfaces of infected or antigen-presenting cells, but a significant immune response is mounted against just a few of these signatures during a typical infection. I'm using mathematical models and computer simulations to study the mechanisms of this phenomenon, termed "immunodominance,” and its implications for viral infections, vaccine design, and autoimmunity.
I earned BAs in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2003 and a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 2008. Before I began working in Arup Chakraborty's group at MIT, I studied light harvesting by photosynthetic plants and bacteria in the laser spectroscopy lab of Graham Fleming at Berkeley. This work inspired my interest in using theoretical and computational modeling to gain mechanistic understanding of complex biological systems. When not pursuing interdisciplinary science, I like to cook, run, swim, and read historical biographies.