I received my bachelor’s degree in physics from North Carolina State University in 2006. As an undergraduate, I was very involved in undergraduate research and worked primarily in the field of nanoscience, synthesizing and characterizing monolayer films and measuring electric dipoles using dielectric spectroscopy. This experience led me to pursue a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Florida.

My graduate research was focused on optical imaging of tumor microvessels in vivo using a unique hyperspectral imaging system that was able to determine the oxygen saturation of newly formed vessels within a tumor. This research aimed to understand the dynamics of tumor oxygenation in order to optimize the current antiangiogenic agents that are an emerging treatment modality.

After receiving my master’s degree, I pursued a research opportunity at Duke University in the lab of my “grand-advisor” (my graduate research advisor’s previous advisor). During this time, I worked on developing radiation-sensitive nanoparticles and learned many other imaging techniques including confocal microscopy and TEM. Simultaneously, I applied and was accepted into medical school at the University of Central Florida to achieve my dreams of becoming a physician-scientist. Surprisingly, I found there is a lot of physics in medicine, and I have been able to brush up on some of my undergraduate studies. I am currently in my third year of medical school, and I thrive on every possible research opportunity that comes my way and am working on several retrospective research studies. I will graduate in May 2014, and I hope to pursue a career in orthopedic surgery.