Kathryn is a third-year PhD student in the Biomedical Sciences program at UCSD. She earned her B.S. in Biology at Emory University where she began her research career and co-authored her first paper on the chromatin changes in crop model organisms in response to flooding. After receiving her degree, Kathryn worked as a data analyst in a neuroimaging and genetics lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore where she co-authored several more papers, including a first-author paper on the phenotypic similarities of brain imaging data across psychiatric and metabolic diseases. Kathryn's current work involves using novel molecular tools to understand the role of the hyperactive LRRK2 kinase in Parkinson's Disease. Outside of lab, Kathryn enjoys hiking, running, and exploring San Diego.