After graduating in 2011 from the City College of New York, I worked as a consultant for Dr. Dewey who then recruited me from Brookhaven National Lab to the Feinstein institutes for Medical Research. That year, I entered the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and joined the inaugural class as one of three PhD students of the new medical school.
My dissertation project interrogated pre-clinical sex differences in the metabolic neural patterns associated with opioid pain management using18-fludeoxyglucose (18FDG) and micro positron emission tomography (MicroPET). I was able to show that distinct metabolic patterns of pain were sex-specific, and confirmed that an animal model could be useful in revealing distinct metabolic indicators of opioid withdrawal and improve the efficacy of therapeutic intervention.
As a Research Scientist at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, I oversee operations of the MicroPET imaging facility as part of the Center for Neurosciences. I have recentl studies include studies of the extracellular cold-inducible RNA-binding protein, (CIRP-/-) and wild type (WT) mice, before and after exposure to binge-alcohol levels. By quantifying glucose metabolism with 18FDG and MicroPET, and using brain-mapping analysis of the imaging data, we can determine if CIRP plays a role in alcohol-induced cognitive impairment. I have served as mentor to many undergraduate and some high school students, and very much enjoy sharing my knowledge base with those that enjoy science.