Katie is an MD/PhD student interested in neuro-oncology/neurosurgery. During her undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, Katie studied circadian rhythms in Dr. Steve Kay's lab. In the summer of 2016, Katie participated in St. Jude's Pediatric Oncology Education program under the mentorship of Dr. Jian Zuo. Her summer project explored the role of EGFR signaling pathway inhibitors on hair cell regeneration in the organ of Corti.
After graduating from USC in 2018, Katie returned to St. Jude for two years as a research technician in Dr. Jay Bikoff's lab, where she studied the cellular diversity of spinal motor circuits using single-nucleus RNAseq. She enrolled in medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2020; she completed her second appointment in St. Jude's Pediatric Oncology Education in 2021 under the mentorship of Dr. Hiroto Inaba. Her interest in neuroscience and neuro-oncology research grew throughout her preclinical and clinical years in medical school, ultimately leading her to apply for St. Jude's PhD program. Katie plans to study the molecular underpinnings of treatment response and tumor genomic evolution in pediatric medulloblastoma patients using CSF liquid biopsies in Dr. Paul Northcott's lab for her graduate studies.
Hometown: Memphis, TN