My name is Audrey Daugherty, and I received my Bachelor’s in Microbiology and Cell Science with minors in Health Disparities and Spanish from the University of Florida. I grew up in south Florida on an agricultural tree farm and moved to Minnesota after my undergraduate studies for research. In my post-baccalaureate years, I pursued research at the University of Minnesota in gene therapies for rare neurodegenerative disease and mechanisms of progeroid syndromes. I joined the Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP) PhD program in the Fall of 2024, and I am a PhD student in the Bartolomucci lab. My project involves looking at the molecular mechanisms of stress-induced accelerated aging in mouse models of chronic psychosocial stress, with an emphasis on DNA damage and senescent cell accumulation in the brain. Outside of the lab I enjoy hiking, gardening, playing with my cat Princess, reading, and baking.