Her laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of gliomagenesis in endogenous human-based models. She is also a practicing neuropathologist, specializing in the diagnoses of complex neurological disorders including epilepsy, inflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions, and brain tumors. She received her M.D./Ph.D. from UT Southwestern Medical Center, where she pioneered the studies of neuroepigenetics in chronic stress/depression with Dr. Eric Nester. Following the path of a Physician-Scientist, she then completed her residency in Anatomic Pathology and fellowship in Neuropathology at Columbia University,