I am a postdoctoral fellow working in the lab of Dr. Douglas Mashek in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics. The goal of my research is to determine how we can harness fasting-activated pathways, including lipolysis, to mitigate DNA damage and cellular senescence to ultimately prevent and/or treat age-related diseases. I am looking specifically at the effect of activation or overexpression of adipose triglyceride lipase, the rate-limiting enzyme in lipolysis, on DNA damage and senescence in several cell types. Additionally, I am interested in investigating causes and treatment of metabolic diseases associated with aging, including Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) and Type II Diabetes.