About

Katie is an NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Bill DeGrado at UC San Francisco where she is applying structural biology and protein design to understand bacterial signal transduction. In particular, she is interested in the evolutionary mechanisms that define protein structure-function relationships and in leveraging that knowledge to interrogate and re-wire signaling pathways for novel or orthogonal purposes. Her long term career goal is to pursue an academic faculty position in which she can lead interdisciplinary research informed by chemistry to interrogate the role of protein sequence, structure, and function in complex biological processes. She is also particularly excited by teaching and mentoring and by opportunities to innovate at the interface of chemical education and research. Katie is excited to be a 2023 Leading Edge Fellow, a community-driven professional development program for gender-minority aspiring faculty. 

Katie recently completed her Ph.D. in the McCafferty lab in the Department of Chemistry at Duke University where she was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Her doctoral training employed biochemical, biophysical, and proteomic approaches to interrogate the enzymology and biological mechanisms of trafficking defects in Parkinson's disease. While at Duke, Katie was recognized with awards including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Duke's Bass Instructional Fellowship. She also completed the Certificate in College Teaching Program and was selected as a Preparing Future Faculty Fellow for the 2020–2021 academic year.

Prior to her time at Duke, Katie received a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.S. in Neuroscience at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she graduated magna cum laude with Honors. While at Rhodes, she conducted computational and bioorganic chemistry research, was a member of the Varsity Women's Soccer team, and served as a Resident Assistant. She received numerous academic awards including the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, was inducted to Phi Beta Kappa, and was selected for the Rhodes College Hall of Fame for her contributions to the campus community.

Outside of lab, Katie can be found running long distances, playing soccer, making up recipes, wandering in the woods, or playing with her dog, Wallie.