I completed my undergraduate education at New York University from which I received a B.A. in Biology. For graduate education I enrolled in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. I was awarded a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and an M.D. (both from Pitt). As part of my Ph.D. research I studied the role of the vestibular system (the body's sensor of its position in space) in cardiovascular regulation. This work has potential application for reversing physiological disturbances that accompany space flight. It was carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Bill Yates and was funded by NASA through its Graduate Student Researchers Program Fellowship.

Currently, I am a Research Investigator in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley Watson at the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan. Broadly, my research aims at understanding the organization of neural circuits that regulate homeostasis (maintenance of a stable internal environment), how such circuits interact with brain monoamine systems, which regulate mood and affect, and how these functional brain circuits are impacted by stress. Taken together these studies will contribute to our understanding of pathophysiologic mechanisms that underlie neuropsychiatric disorders, such as major depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. My research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and NARSAD.