Contact Information
Summary
Alexandra attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she completed her Bachelor of Science in Human Biology, Health, and Society in the College of Human Ecology with minors in infectious diseases and biomedical sciences.
During her time at Cornell, Alexandra conducted research under Dr. Cynthia Leifer in the Microbiology and Immunology Department focusing on signal transduction cascades in macrophages. She served the Ithaca community at the Ithaca Free Clinic and the Mental Health Association of Tompkins County which fueled her interest in becoming a clinician.
She has an active interest in bedside care and cutting-edge scientific research and wishes to pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. after completing her training at the NIH.
Research Statement
Alexandra’s research focuses on understanding what drives autoimmunity. As a trainee under Dr. Cynthia Leifer, Alexandra discovered her passion for immunology and elucidating biological mechanisms driving inflammatory responses. As a research assistant, she studied TLR, cGAS-STING, and inflammasome complex signaling in the context of both breast cancer and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Currently, under Dr. Kaplan, she studies neutrophil biology and the causes of the aggressive inflammatory phenotype seen in lupus patients.
Education
Cornell University
B.S., Human Biology, Health, and Society (2022)
Experience
Student Research Assistant
Cornell University (2020-2022)
Cornell Institute of Host-Microbe Interactions and Disease Research Fellow
Cornell University (2021)
SR-EIP Research Fellow
University of Chicago (2019)