I am at biophysics major and CS minor from Wilmington, Delaware. I have been doing research in Dr. Doug Barrick’s lab since sophomore spring. Before that, I did work with Dr. Sua Myong.

I am investigating the protein folding thermodynamics of BamA’s five POTRA domains, a critical protein in gram-negative bacteria. My project focused on understanding how the domains’ interactions contribute to the structural stability and function of BamA. I expressed and purified single, double, and triple repeat pairs and characterized their folding behavior using circular dichroism spectroscopy and guanidine-induced denaturation. To quantify the domain’s interfacial interactions, I fit the data by a one-dimensional Ising model I developed to extract folding free energies and coupling parameters between domains, offering insights into BamA’s functional flexibility and stability.

I think that the mentors in the biophysics program are really what makes it unique. Dr. Doug Barrick has been one of the most influential people in my Hopkins life as well as my career. I think that he shows unending support to his lab members as well as all the students in his class, which I think is evident from his work learning every student’s name by the first week of class. Additionally, Dr. Katie Tripp has been another fantastic mentor that I found through this program. Dr. Tripp has been there for me through difficult moments in my personal life, while being a great assistance whenever I have scientific questions. This duo was absolutely instrumental in supporting me through graduate school applications and college life in general.

I think that joining this department has given invaluable research skills and lifelong mentors, which I will miss as I leave Hopkins and very much will hope to emulate as I begin my own career.