Currently, I am a member of Dr. Caroline B. Appleyard's gastroenterology laboratory team at Ponce Health Sciences University - Ponce Research Institute, examining the impact of voluntary exercise on the pathology of endometriosis as a therapeutic intervention. I am interested in working in physiology, immunology and molecular pathology related biomedical fields, especially in the pathology of chronic inflammatory conditions and compromised immune systems. As a research technician, I have been able to train and mentor undergraduate and graduate students, participate in journal clubs, present research progress reports and present research results at international meetings. Working side by side with scientific leaders and graduate students has exposed me to a doctorate level environment, allowing me to network in different biomedical science fields.
My goal is to work towards the improvement of current treatments for health disparities by collaborating with experts in different fields. I am also committed to engaging underrepresented students with science.
Project Info:
We have been working on an NIH funded project entitled “Physical Activity as a Therapeutic Intervention in Endometriosis”. Based on prior outcomes in the laboratory we hypothesized that physical exercise can realign dysregulation of the brain-gut axis in this condition. We are subjecting an endometriosis rat model to a controlled exercise protocol (voluntary wheel running) and examining its impact on the pathology of the disease under stress and non-stress conditions. I have been involved in all aspects of this project which involves care of the animals, examining endometriotic vesicles, intestinal pathology, cytokine levels, behavior, and metagenomics of gut microflora.
