Department of Pharmacology

I grew up in Mobile, AL and received my B.S. in Genetics from the University of Georgia in 2022. At Vanderbilt, I joined the Sando lab which investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying synapse formation and function, with an emphasis on the role of Adhesion-class GPCRs (aGPCRs). In general, GPCRs are a critical therapeutic target, but there is a lack of drugs targeting aGPCRs due to their complexity. Overall, I hope to provide insight into the fundamental functions of aGPCRs in synaptic circuits of the mammalian hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Specifically, I am characterizing and investigating an aGPCR that has unknown functions in the brain, and I will be analyzing how aGPCRs regulate protein localization and complex formation at synaptic junctions.