She received her Ph.D. in Immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During her doctoral training, she characterized antigen-specific T cell responses in rheumatoid arthritis and implicated granzyme B in the revelation of cryptic autoimmune epitopes. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in the Division of Rheumatology studying autoantibodies in RA under the mentorship of Dr. Antony Rosen, she joined the faculty in the Division of Rheumatology to continue her investigative pursuit of autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis.