She received her Ph.D. from Wayne State University, where she studied electron transfer and electronic coupling in transition metal complexes under the direction of Professor John Endicott. She completed postdoctoral work at Colorado State University under the direction of Professor Richard Finke, where she studied the kinetics of formation of transition metal nanocluster catalysts, along with the kinetic modeling of protein aggregation in neurological disorders. Her current research interests include developing means to better understand the interactions of metal nanoparticles with biological systems.