Bio
My scientific career began with my undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies in Barbados. I completed graduate studies at Yale University and post-doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley. I joined the Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as an Assistant Professor and then was promoted to Associate Professor. I am currently an Associate Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
My research focuses on intercellular communication in plants, particularly on structures called plasmodesmata that allow movement of molecules between walled plant cells. I use diverse molecular and cell biological approaches including advanced light and electron microscopy and plant viruses to address questions related to plasmodesmal structure during development and pathogen infection. My lab also investigates chloroplast gene expression and retrograde signaling to control nuclear gene expression. Research in my lab has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the USDA, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
I am also actively engaged in the wider scientific community. I am a Senior Editor and Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions journal. I also served as Chair of the Science Policy Committee of the American Society of Plant Biologists and was a member of the ASPB Board of Directors. I am also passionate about broadening participation in science and an integral part of my outreach activities includes providing an enriching, supportive environment/opportunities for deaf/hard-of-hearing persons and other individuals belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in science.