I obtained my undergraduate degree in cellular/molecular biology at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. I then attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham and obtained a Ph.D. in cell biology/biochemistry of the retina in the Vision Science Graduate Program. After two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), I became the manager of the Neuroscience Imaging Facility for 4 years. I’m currently research faculty in ophthalmology at UTHSC where I work in collaboration with Dr. Monica M. Jablonski developing better mouse models of AMD and glaucoma and small molecule therapeutic intervention of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and glaucoma. My research interests include the cellular and molecular mechanisms of retinal degenerative diseases as well as gene therapy and inflammation.