Ph.D. Researcher. Mechanical Engineer. Biomedical Engineer.

People living with life-altering, incurable illnesses deserve more than symptom management, they deserve real solutions. My mission is to create those solutions, pushing beyond the limits of conventional care to restore quality of life, independence, and dignity for patients who have been left without options.

I first understood the urgency of this mission in 2011, when my mother underwent what should have been a routine gallbladder removal surgery. During the procedure, doctors discovered a tumor embedded in her intercostal nerves. To remove it, they had to sever the nerve bundle—condemning her to a lifelong battle with chronic pain. Although narcotic pain medications and a spinal cord stimulator helped manage symptoms, the medical field offered no real path to restoring her version of a normal life. Instead, as she continued searching for relief, her health deteriorated further. New complications surfaced from repeated interventions and the toll of her condition, evolving into a systemic threat to her well-being. She was left not with the life she envisioned, but with the life her condition imposed—a reality no one should have to accept without hope of something better.

Supporting my mother through this experience revealed the harsh reality: traditional medicine can reach a limit, and when it does, innovation becomes essential.

I grew up with a mindset shaped by problem-solving and resilience. In a family where the women became teachers and the men became engineers and machinists, my brother and I spent weekends in our Nonno’s garage machine shop, learning to work with our hands and think creatively. That foundation—combined with the drive to understand the most complex system of all, the human body—led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Biomechanics, and a Master of Engineering in Bioengineering, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

After graduation, I worked in the prosthetics field, applying engineering principles to help restore mobility and function for patients. This experience strengthened my belief that innovative design can profoundly change lives—but it also deepened my understanding of the many unmet needs that remain.

Driven to push further, I am now pursuing my Ph.D., with a research focus on stroke rehabilitation. My work is dedicated to developing tangible, effective technologies that help restore independence and quality of life for individuals living with the lasting effects of neurological injury.

I am committed to challenging the limits of what medicine and engineering can achieve together. For every patient who has been told, “there’s nothing more we can do,” I aim to be part of the work that proves otherwise.