Hello everyone! I am a rising junior pursuing a major in Biobehavioral Health with minors in Global Health, Spanish, and Biology.  After completing my education at Penn State, I plan to work in the public health arena.  Driven by passions for human rights, gender rights, and every person’s basic right to health care, I aspire to launch a non-profit organization that benefits women’s reproductive and sexual health in both developing and developed countries.

More specifically, I hope to work with those women and children who have been trafficked into the sex industry.  With the use of drugs to force compliance and the engaging in unprotected sex with multiple sex partners daily, the risk of being exposed to HIV is certainly heightened.  After completing my public health fieldwork experience (as required for the completion of the Global Health minor), and pursuing other abroad opportunities provided under the Schreyer Honors College, I hope to gain insight into constructing a successful and sustainable organization of this nature.

Another passion of mine is the study of mental health, which leads me to my research work here at Penn State. The issue of mental health and the stigma attached to it has too often been swept under the rug in this country, leading to the tragic events such as school shootings and suicides.  Globally, more than 350 million people suffer from depression, a staggering number that can no longer be ignored.

Currently, I am working in Dr. Sonia Cavigelli’s Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Lab.  In this lab, we study the effects of early childhood stressors and the possible connection to the diagnosis of depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders later on in life. We utilize a rodent model to study behavioral and physiological changes that result from an induced asthma stressor created with an ester called methacholine, along with environmental stressors.  Each animal’s behavior is observed throughout adolescence using various behavioral testing and stress is measured by observing the cortisol levels of the mice.

Since moving back to State College two weeks ago, I have been preparing tissues for observation including brain, prefrontal cortex, lung, hypothalamus, and hippocampus samples. We have also started with a new liter of animals where we will try to determine the exact amount of methacholine needed to produce a stress response.  We also plan to begin analyzing data collected from the past year.  I hope to give you a look into our results in my next post!